“So the brother in black offers to these United States the source of courage that endures, and laughter. High John de Conquer. If the news from overseas reads bad, if the nation inside seems like it is stuck in the Tar Baby, listen hard, and you will hear High John de Conquer treading on his singing-drum. You will know then, that no matter how bad things look now, it will be worse for those who seek to oppress us. … White America, take a laugh from out of our black mouths, and win! We give you High John de Conquer.” – Zora Neale Hurston, “High John De Conquer” In The American Mercury (1943)