Jordan

“In our fear, we treat others’ identities as if they are something that they are doing to us and not something that just exists.”
― Alok Vaid-Menon

“The thing about shame is that it eats at you until it fully consumes you. You no longer need people telling you to not dress like that; you already do it to yourself. You no longer need your family telling you to be quiet; you already do it to yourself. You edit yourself and at some point, it becomes so normal that you can’t even tell that you’re doing it.”
― Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary

“So willing — eager, almost — to shed our rich culture for the cheap thrill of being seen as American. Thinking that if one day they accumulated enough stuff, if they learned to act the right way, they could be seen as the same. And because of course, white America will never see them as equal, they die owning lots of things, but having lost themselves.”
― Xóchitl González, Olga Dies Dreaming

“There’s so much in this great big world that you don’t have a single ounce of control over. Guess the sooner you learn that, the sooner you’ll have one less heartbreak in your life.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone