Zetta Elliott > Quotes

“I’m not sure which matters more—where the seed comes from, or where it takes root and grows.”
― Zetta Elliott, A Wish After Midnight

“As if they could not believe a black person would dare to defend herself. It’s as if they expect us to just give up without a fight, to let them kill us, as if this is their right.”
― Zetta Elliott, A Wish After Midnight

“How to Resist

march
curse
fume
cry
but save some of your salt
to cure the rage so
it lasts even longer

write a poem
write a check

take a social media break
take a long bath
put lotion on your body
then put your body in the street

don’t waste your words on frauds
be strategically silent
or find the spaces of denial
and shatter the silence
with your screams

close your ears to the lies
but listen to the cries
of the weak and the wounded
keep the truth deep inside
safe from the filthy fingers
that warp everything they touch

let it throb
ache
and break
over and over again but
don’t harden your heart
harden your resolve instead

most of all

feel something
feel something
feel something”
― Zetta Elliott, Say Her Name

“Do you not have hands? A woman can wield a weapon as easily as any man.”
― Zetta Elliott, Mother of the Sea

“And that’s what love does, it wipes out all the messy parts so you can see the picture clear.”
― Zetta Elliott, A Wish After Midnight

“Men Made of Glass

men made of glass
beware my smile
with lips closed
I can cast a spell
that will reduce you to shards

I draw magic from a well
more ancient than you can fathom
I commune with unsettled spirits
listening to their lament

you spilled my sisters' blood
because they denied you
shame led to slaughter
indefensible panic

my sisters are black pearls
far beyond your valuation
you were never worthy
and now your time is up”
― Zetta Elliott, Say Her Name

“your smile is not owed to any man -- genuine compliments are free”
― Zetta Elliott, Say Her Name

“realized”
― Zetta Elliott, Dragons in a Bag

“If you are silence about your pain they will kill you and say you enjoyed it.”
― Zetta Elliott, Say Her Name

“, I asked my fellow debaters to share something that made them feel hopeful about the US. I gave the answer I always give: “This is a nation of dreamers.” As bad as things get sometimes, we never stop imagining a better way forward…”
― Zetta Elliott

“Jesus, Lord,” he whispers to the stars, “where do white folks come from?” Esther sidles up behind him, her itching fists pressed into her narrow hips. “Same place they goin’ back to. Wish I could be there to watch ’em burn, but I’ll be with the righteous. God help ’em come Judgment Day.”
― Zetta Elliott, A Wish After Midnight

“The tenants' association broke up, and nobody else bothered trying to make our building look good. What's the point? You can't do nothing when the folks around you just don't care.

Mama says people who have nothing of their own don't know how to take care of other people's things. Maybe that's so. I think people are just selfish. They got no problem making a mess of the train or the schoolyard of this building, but they wouldn't scribble on the walls or throw trash all over their own apartment. Mama says, don't be so sure.

I think sometimes people want to own something so bad that they just can't help themselves. I know kids at school who carry markers with them wherever they go just so they can leave their tag someplace. To show that they've been there, or maybe to pretend that that space is theirs.”
― Zetta Elliott, A Wish After Midnight

“some”
― Zetta Elliott, The Dragon Thief

“We have a rat to find!”
― Zetta Elliott, The Dragon Thief