Jessica

“Freedom that is gained at another person’s expense isn’t freedom; it is just diverted oppression. A lot of people who say they want freedom really just want to cosplay as oppressors by excluding and harming the people they believe are beneath them. We don’t get free by lording our power over others. Freedom is a collective endeavor that requires us to imagine a different world than the one we presently inhabit. As we imagine freedom, it is critical that we imagine freedom for all people.”
― Ally Henny, I Won't Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When the World Tries to Silence You

“As a self-proclaimed loud Black woman, I long for the day when my loudness doesn’t have to be armor that protects me from the fiery darts of white supremacy. I long to just be.”
― Ally Henny, I Won't Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When the World Tries to Silence You

“The losses that I have experienced on this journey of finding my voice have been just as instructive to me as the books I’ve read, the seminars I’ve attended, and any other means of knowledge acquisition I’ve engaged in. The difficult road I traveled has led me exactly where I needed to be exactly when I needed to be there. I don’t know if I will ever stop grieving certain losses, but I do know that those losses and their accompanying grief are tools I have used to stage my own liberation. You can use the ashes you hold from your grief to paint a beautiful picture of life and liberation.”
― Ally Henny, I Won't Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When the World Tries to Silence You

“Anything that purports to be freedom but only belongs to a certain group or can only be attained by amassing power over other people isn’t freedom.”
― Ally Henny, I Won't Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When the World Tries to Silence You