have to say. Some lies are so venal one's own sense of propriety is offended by
the simple act of denial. Yet truth, though never as strong as a lie, must fight
for its share of light. It is said that in order for evil to triumph all that is required
is for good men to say nothing.

Jessie Carney Smith has said something. Images of Blacks in American Culture
allows us to look at the use and abuse to which Black Americans have been
subjected. It is not, as no look at the carnage of war is, a pretty picture. A
people have been hurt. And more, those who have needed the lies are exposing
their disease. Not since the Middle Ages have we humans considered dark, dank
quarters the proper housing for the ill, the infirmed, the insane. As we do not
lock Aunt Emma upstairs because she is forgetful, as we do not put John in a
dungeon because he has pleurisy, as we would not dream to strap Junior to his
bed because he suffers from polio, we cannot keep hidden the products of our
emotional disorders. We bring forth Images to proclaim that though we have
erred in the past we still do believe "all men are created equal."

Nikki Giovanni
Poet
San Francisco, 1987

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