When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir

by Patrisse Cullors

And the goal is freedom. The goal is to live beyond fear. The goal is to end the occupation of our bodies and souls by the agents of a larger American culture that demonstrates daily how we don’t matter. They show us this in the schools most Black people attend where there are history books—history books—sometimes more than a generation old. They show us every time we drive through one of our neighborhoods that has no safe places for kids or grocery stores. They show us when they find money for another war but not for a decent hospital we can go to. They show us on TV and in the movies. They show us when we are arrested for standing together in the street. They show us relentlessly. Which is why we are determined to show ourselves something else. We are determined to love ourselves the best and most whole way we know.