QuoteJim Crow

"I contend that the Negro is the creative voice of America,…" — Duke Ellington

c. 1941(Approximate date)· Duke Ellington (speaker)

“I contend that the Negro is the creative voice of America, is creative America, and it was a happy day in America when the first unhappy slave was landed on its shores.”
Speaker
Duke Ellington
Occasion
"We, Too, Sing America" address, Los Angeles (1941)

Duke Ellington's argument for Black pride and the centrality of African-American creativity to American culture.

Sources & citations

  1. 1.ipm.orgwebsite
"I contend that the Negro is the creative voice of America,…" — Duke Ellington · We've Been Protesting