The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

by Janelle Monáe

Even before the Dawn, we lived in a nation that asked us to forget in order to find wholeness, but memory of who we’ve been—of who we’ve been punished for being—was always the only map into tomorrow. To the Dawn, that was nothing but data. Could it be overwritten, or just erased?

No one remembers everything. And what’s too painful to remember, you can simply choose to forget. All

every inch of life’s purpose was to find love, freedom, and your people. To embrace your own weirdness and other folks’ wildness.

you can’t build a future if you don’t dream it.”