The Litt Librarian

“We laugh, but the merriment stops when Will says, “Blackface is not gone! If the words are written by a white man, then it doesn’t matter if it’s a colored man on that stage or a white man in blackface. The words are still written by men who’ve never lived a moment without privilege, telling stories of men who cannot even purchase access to privilege.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I’ve known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“This is the gift of Harlem—the dress, the music, the language. It isn’t possible to live here and not begin to breathe and bleed this place.”
― Victoria Christopher Murray, Harlem Rhapsody

“They say you can’t really be with someone until you can love yourself, but I’m learning that it can also sometimes take the admiration and support of someone else to help you get there. I was already on the path to seeing my own self-worth, but Brian took my hand and made the route less lonely.”
― Crystal Maldonado, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega