Joe Mahmuhh

“Momma said that ghosts couldn't move over water. That's why Africans got trapped in the Americas.. They kept moving us over the water, stealing us away from our ghosts and ancestors, who cried salty rivers into the sand. That's where Momma was now, wailing at the water's edge, while her girls were pulled out of sight under white sails that cracked in the wind.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains

“It was like looking at a knot, knowing it was a knot, but not knowing how to untie it. I had no map for this life.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains

“Melancholy held me hostage, and the bees built a hive of sadness in my soul.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains

“She cannot chain my soul. Yes, she could hurt me. She'd already done so...I would bleed, or not. Scar, or not. Live, or not. But she could not hurt my soul, not unless I gave it to her.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains