A Song Below Water Quotes

“I'm not a monster because I live in a world that gives me impossible choices.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“We should all speak like sirens. Use our voices to make a difference, because all of them matter.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“Nobody ever figured out hiding things from kids isn’t protecting them if they know something’s wrong! It just makes me think I can’t trust myself. I can’t trust these feelings I have, these warnings I keep sensing. Like I never should have trusted you.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“I know how it feels to be exhausted with yourself.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“The danger is as much a part of home as community is. The fear gets quiet, but it doesn't disappear, and that might be what sets us apart. When we smile, or we dance, or we march, or we win, it isn't because we didn't have a reason we didn't have a reason to be afraid. It isn't because the uncertainty is gone. It's because we did it anyway. Because we cannot be exterminated.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“The thing about being underwater is that it’s not—quiet, I mean. I can’t hear what’s happening above the surface, but when I’m totally submerged, I hear the water. I hear its song, the way it sings to itself and anybody who comes below to hear it. I love the way it never changes, and the way I’m always different when I’m here.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“What we need isn’t dissuading, or discouragement, or consoling. We don’t need to be told we’re all helpless. What we need is action.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“If it is our destiny as Black women to stand before crowds, before press and police and people enamored of our grief—if we are to give eulogy after eulogy and defend the dead… if all we have are our voices, then why are we so feared?”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“She seems so calm right now, even serene. She seems so suddenly optimistic and relieved.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“Thank you again, Mr. Brooks.” Ms. Fisher tilted her head. She’d graduated to using Kyle’s last name, signaling it was time for him to shut up. “As helpful as you’re being today, I’m gonna say no. Not quite. But that’s a common misinterpretation. Freedom of speech protects you from government retaliation for expressing personal views or just generally dissenting opinions. It’s a much more specific context than many people think. For example, it will not protect my son from my wrath when he’s a back-talking teenager.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“We do.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“What else is there to say when someone still thinks they can prove anything to the rest of the world. When they think there’s a way to behave to avoid being brutalized.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“Danger, they report, and they’re talking about the danger she posed, never the danger we face”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“I'm in love with a gargoyle.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“no such thing as cross-cultural empathy without cultural competency.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“She made a lot of tea she forgot to drink. Paw Paw and I would find cups of it everywhere, cold. Forgotten. The house would be sparkling clean except for those sad, out-of-place teacups.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“No more getting life and fantasy confused, she said.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“I’m flip-flopping with every step. It’ll be fine. This is a mistake. It’ll be fine. This is a mistake.”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water

“Paw had always said not to read too much into being called last, that they knew they weren’t strong enough to take me until they were all together,”
― Bethany C. Morrow, A Song Below Water