Christopher Daniel

“Cultural production, criticism, and programming are now governed, in their totality, by indoctrinated middlebrow assholes, educated beyond their intelligence, who assume that anyone from a red state won’t understand it or wouldn’t be interested.

I would struggle to argue to the alt-right YouTuber that Ben Lerner didn’t hate him. But I would argue against his position that the art world isn’t for us, us being the red state rabble. The working class, the uneducated, the failures, and the washed out. We are creators too. And we are allowed to circumvent the tastefulness of the establishment, the cultural gatekeepers, and the university powerhouse. The art world hates us, yes. But art doesn’t.”
― Jessa Crispin, The Baffler

“You must save what you can of your life; you musn't lose it all simply because you've lost a part.”
― Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

“I’ve had enough of someone else’s propaganda… I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X

“By and large, our works of social criticism are by journalists and they're written to an industry standard. They're mostly a matter of partisan bickering written in a style that can't fail to be understood by reading clubs that meet at the Starbucks cafe in the local Barnes and Noble. Editors, agents, critics, and readers all agree: a book is a failure if it is not understood. Which ends up meaning that it fails if it tries to provide an understanding beyond what is already well understood. Thus, books have become the enemy of understanding.”
― Curtis White