Mariam

“For example, Israeli state agencies cite their superior "gay-friendly" culture to justify their brutal subjugation of "backward homophobic" Palestinians. Similarly, some European liberals invoke their own "enlightened toleration" of LGBTQ+ individuals in order to legitimate hostility towards Muslims, whom they equate indiscriminately with reaction, while giving non-Muslim sex-authoritarians a free pass.”
― Cinzia Arruzza, Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto

“The things that will go I to my handbag are laid out on my dressing table.
Two packets of pocket tissue, one 30-centilitre bottle of water, one first aid kit, one packet of wipes, one wallet, one tube of hand cream, one lip balm, one phone, one tampon, one rape whistle.
Basically, the essentials for every woman.”
― Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer

“Her shoulders are trembling, but no sound escapes her lips. Did no one tell her it is painful to cry silently?”
― Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer

“Any event that surprises a man has already been experienced by other men before him. The effects of all human possibilities have already been felt. Nothing that might happen to us here, as terrible or as felicitous as it might seem, is new. But what we experience is always new because every man is unique, the way every leaf and every tree is unique. Men share with each other the same lifeblood, but each feeds himself from it differently. Even if the new isn’t really new, it’s always new for those who, ceaselessly, wash up on the world’s shores, generation after generation, wave after wave. So, in order to find yourself in life, to not lose yourself on the path, you must listen to the voice of duty. To think too much about yourself is to falter. Whoever understands this secret has the potential to live in peace. But it’s easier said than done.”
― David Diop, At Night All Blood is Black