Jenn Jackson > Jenn's Quotes

“we cannot divorce capitalism from race, nor can we divorce our struggle against racism from our struggle against capitalism. Every financial crisis is a racial crisis as well.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Black women taught us how to listen and work. It’s time we do both.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Racism is rooted in law. It is embedded in every institution in this land. It is all around us all the time and it orders all of society.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Black women take on immense risk when we choose to speak, write, and champion the truth despite a societal commitment to misremembering, watering down, and whitewashing history.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“The fact of the matter is: There is enough room for all of us. There is enough freedom for all of us. There is enough justice and enough love for all of us. And, when we begin to forget that, we start to reinscribe the same systems that we seek to destroy.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“accountability is about naming harm for the sake of changing the world.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself. And that’s political, in its most profound way. —June Jordan”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Telling the truth should not be radical.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Freedom is not always about the moments of celebration, the pomp and circumstance, or the big proclamations, declarations, and statements. It doesn’t always come after a war or due to a march, protest, or the violent overthrow of a corrupt political leader. Freedom also rests in the quiet moments when nothing seems to be happening at all. In the waiting and strategizing. Freedom comes in the revolutionary choice to be unmoved by the State, to remain still, grounded, and planted in the truth that we each deserve to be fully recognized and respected in our bodies, beliefs, and objectives. Freedom comes when we are not even doing anything but continuing to live despite a world that does not want us to exist.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“All of these young people have some kind of potential in them. And if we don’t invest in them as a nation, regardless of where they come from or what color they are, if we don’t invest in them, we lose. —Michelle Obama”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“We must all take full responsibility for our own entanglements with white supremacy and anti-Blackness so that we can adequately account for our complicity in the systems that make others unfree.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Telling the truth is about much more than honesty and transparency. It is about cataloging and remembering ourselves. It is about creating an anthology and language to translate and interpret contemporary events. Telling the truth is about believing in the ability of those who come after us to do what is right.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Telling the truth is not just about freeing ourselves from the weights that press down on us. It isn’t just about shining a light on those things that lurk in the dark. Telling the truth is about vulnerability, intimacy, showing up for ourselves and our comrades, and accountability to those we hold dear. Truth-telling opens up new sites of tenderness. It makes the sensitive places that we’ve left hidden under hurt, grief, and past trauma softer. Truth-telling frees us. But even more than that, it has the potential to radicalize us.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“Accountability is about harm acknowledgment, harm reduction, and healing justice. Acknowledging the harm means that we must first be able to tell the truth about what has transpired.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism

“When examined over time, it becomes clear that Black women continue to confront the true nature of this society despite the risks to themselves.”
― Jenn M. Jackson, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism