Now, if this passion, this skill, this (to quote Toni Morrison) " sheer intelligence, " this incredible music, the mighty achievement of having brought a people utterly unknown to, or despised by " history "---to have brought this people to their present, troubled, troubling, and unassailable and unanswerable place---if this absolutely unprecedented journey does not indicate that black English is a language, I am curious to know what definition of language is to be trusted.