Ngoc Nguyen

“How many ways can you splice a history? Price a
country? Dice a people? Slice a heart? Entice what's been
erased back into story? My-gritude.

Have you ever taken a word in your hand, dared to shape
your palm to the hollow where the fullness falls away?
Have you ever pointed it back to its beginning? Felt it
leap and shudder in your fingers like a dowsing rod? Jerk,
like a severed thumb? Flare with the forbidden name of a
goddess returning? My-gritude.

Have you ever set out to search for a missing half?
the piece that isn't shapely, elegant, simple. The half
that's ugly, heavy, abrasive. Awkward to the hand. Gritty
on the tongue.

Migritude.”
― Shailja Patel, Migritude

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
― audre lorde

“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.”
― Kate Chopin, The Awakening