“What I see is the millions of people, of whom I am just one, made orphans: no motherland, no fatherland, no gods, no mounds of earth for holy ground, no excess of love which might lead to the things that an excess of love sometimes brings, and worst and most painful of all, no tongue. (For isn't it odd that the only language I have in which to speak of this crime is the language of the criminal who committed the crime? And what can that really mean? For the language of the criminal can contain only the goodness of the criminal's deed. The language of the criminal can explain and express the deed only from the criminal's point of view. It cannot contain the horror of the deed, the injustice of the deed, the agony, the humiliation inflicted one me.”
―
―
“A Nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but it's lowest ones”
― Long Walk to Freedom
― Long Walk to Freedom
“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.”
―
―
“It is no accident, Ma, that the comma resembles a fetus— that curve of continuation. We were all once inside our mothers, saying with our entire curved and silenced selves, more, more, more. I want to insist that are being alive is beautiful enough to be worthy of replication. And so what? So what if all I ever made of my life was more of it?”
― On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
― On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Seven Sisters Book Club
— 219 members
— last activity Jun 07, 2020 10:26AM
A group for reading, sharing, discussing, and celebrating books written by alumnae of Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, Barnard, and Smith . . . and ...more
Afro Book Club
— 802 members
— last activity Jun 21, 2025 12:29PM
An international reading club appreciating books by authors of African descent in the continent and in the diaspora.
Danielle’s 2025 Year in Books
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