The accumulated rock of ages deciphered itself as a part of my inheritance-a part, mind you, not the totality-but, in order to claim my birthright, of which myinheritance was but a shadow, it was necessary to challenge and claim the rock. Otherwise, the rock claimed me. Or, to put it another way, my inheritance was particular, specifically limited and limiting: my birthright was vast, connecting me to all that lives, and to everyone, forever. But one cannot claim the birthright without accepting the inheritance.
-Notes of A Native Son by James Baldwin Pg.xi-xii
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