Nicole

“Please remember that when adversity is drawn out of the shadows and recognized, we ensure that human beings living under oppression—past and present—know they are not forgotten.

Together we can shine a light in dark corners of the past.

Together, we can give history a voice.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“The new dawn balloons as we free it.
For there is always light,
If only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
― Amanda Gorman

“I have my story. The twins will have theirs.

Stories, it seems to me, are living things. Once you set them free, they're like offspring. They have destinies of their own.

They're no longer your responsibility.

They belong to the world.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Family

“My grandmother called it bearing witness. She'd sit on the porch with her sister and talk the night away. Sometimes gossiping, sometimes praying. I'd hear them confide in each other, telling each other things I knew I wasn't supposed to know anything about." Maxine hits the button on her keychain to unlock her door. We get in. "I didn't get it as a kid. I mean, nothing got resolved, necessarily, so I though it was silly to just sit and rehash everything that was wrong with the world," Maxine says.
"Yeah, that's kind of depressing," I say.
"But I think what my grandmother was saying is that it feels good to know someone knows your story, that someone took you in," Maxine says. "She'd tell me, it's how we heal.”
― Renée Watson, Piecing Me Together