Julia > Julia's Quotes

“For a few seconds, I remembered that the most abusive parts of our nation obsessively neglect yesterday while peddling in possibility. I remembered that we got here by refusing to honestly remember together. I remember that it was easier to promise than it was to reckon or change.”
― Kiese Laymon, Heavy

“America seems filled with violent people who like causing people pain but hate when those people tell them that pain hurts.”
― Kiese Laymon, Heavy

“For a few seconds, I remembered that the most abusive parts of our nation obsessively neglect yesterday while peddling in possibility. I remembered that we got here by refusing to honestly remember together. I remembered that it was easier to promise than it was to reckon or change. But I wanted to continue feeling delivered. I wanted to continue feeling fantastic. I wanted t continue feeling free. And I wanted to feel loved by both of us again. "I promise," I slowly texted. "We have come too far to turn back. I promise. We have come way too far to turn back.”
― Kiese Laymon, Heavy

“The thing about shame is that it eats at you until it fully consumes you. Then you cannot tell the difference between their shame and your own— between a body and an apology.”
― Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary

“we have been taught to fear the very things that have the potential to set us free”
― Alok Vaid-Menon

“This is actually the purpose of language— to give meaning to concepts as they evolve.”
― Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary

“Black feminists and LGBTQ activists are labeled “hijackers” and said to be divisive or co-opting or distracting from what is important, and what is “important” is the mainstream narrative propped up by patriarchy and misogyny (straight-up hatred of women).”
― Charlene Carruthers, Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements

“Being radical is a choice, and it takes work. A person with a marginalized identity can engage in conservative, oppressive political work, and activists, organizers, and intellectuals living under capitalism, colonialism, anti-Black racism, and patriarchy require years of unlearning or decolonization.”
― Charlene Carruthers, Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements

“And the metaphorical lenses we choose are crucial, having the power to magnify, create better focus, and correct our vision.”
― Charlene Carruthers, Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements

“We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.”
― Gwendolyn Brooks