I had a very stirring experience on my trip back home. I stopped to visit a friend of my grandmother in Providence. He who took me to the Providence Emancipation Day picnic at Rocky Point, in a bay in Rhode Island, where colored people from three states were gathered.

To my astonishment, I saw ten thousand Negroes of every shade and color. My mouth hung open as I observed the whole gorgeous gamut of the American Negro world; the swaggering men, the beautiful girls, the laughter and gaiety, the unhampered self-expression. I was both astonished and inspired. I saw no evidence of poverty or degradation, only the equality of their mannerisms and styles.

I also stopped by Springfield and Albany to visit my brother Idelbert. There I saw my first electric light blink and sputter.