Sweep of Stars Quotes

“The beauty in blackness is its ability to transform. Like energy we are neither created nor destroyed, though many try.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“I just need you to know that I’m not about that ‘turn the other cheek’ life. Only when an oppressor knows they run the risk of response equal to their efforts do they learn to respect our lives.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“To destroy the identity of a people,” he begins, “you must first strip them of their name, strip them of their sense of self. Your name joins you to your family, your history, your culture.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“Your belly sounds like it’s mumbling the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“And you want to Christopher Columbus the fuck out of the other side.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“We simply want to come alongside certain communities and help revitalize and empower them to reach their full potential.” Stacia hated words like empower and revitalize when applied to her community. It implied that the people there had no power and that their community was dead.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“As you can imagine, all of this only fueled O.E.’s paranoia of us, stoking their fears that we plotted against them. They came to believe that it was only a matter of time before we unleashed the destructive force of our military might. Because history has told us that is what they would have done.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“Of course we are. We stand in opposition to their entire way of life. We created ways of being and moving. Of valuing and celebrating one another. Allowing our systems – political and economic – to grow out of our humanity. Seeking only the best for one another and our community. That’s why we’re a threat. And will always be seen as one.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“We’ became slaves to wheat,” Stacia said.
“Yes. Wheat, the technology and systematic impact of agriculture tricked us into serving it and spreading it around the world. Similarly, you don’t own the wormhole and you certainly don’t control it.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“It’s true. When you set your eyes on it again, you need to realize that you’re looking at a piece of hip-hop history. A holy relic.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
Their generation, not-quite-affectionately called neoniks, loved the late-twentieth-century era as part of what they called The Remember Revolution. They committed themselves to never forget the tragedies of O.E., from Black Wall Street to MOVE to First World. Admirable in philosophy, though in practice, they basically just adopted the era’s slang.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“All of Muungano’s Territory lit up as a hologram projection, from the Dreaming City to Mars to the mining outpost. No borders, per se, not the way O.E. might define them. Only communities of alliance. This was what they had all fought so hard to forge. They needed a new vocabulary to describe the experiment they embarked on. Empire wasn’t it. A budding cooperative cradled in a sweep of stars.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“Several figures wearing light scattering masks designed to defeat facial-recognition algorithm stormed about. Some toted phase EMP carronades. The international district of Indianapolis was once the side of town that suffered from benign neglect of city officials. Property values plummeted, money enough to rebrand the area and immigrants moved in. And flourished. Through LISC, the city found money enough to rebrand the area the International District. This grew into the international marketplace, which soon housed several embassies once the nation’s capital shifted to the booming metropolis.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars

“Caring meant being courageous enough to be fully present with one another. One did not have to be useful or whole or even remotely healed as long as they were present, willing to bear themselves - their full, vulnerable selves - to others and allow their history of hurt to be transformed into a wellspring of healing.”
― Maurice Broaddus, Sweep of Stars