Golden Poppies Quotes

“You eat from trees you did not plant and are obliged to plant trees you will not eat from.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“You cannot change that man, but you can learn the truth about the world and decide what kind of person you want to be.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“It was strange how one choice could change the course of your entire life.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“As Momma said, it was the cost of loving.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“This pain is the cost for real love . . . and it is well worth the price,”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Your mother is a precious soul and the earth will be diminished without her—though heaven will be rewarded with another angel.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Her sentiments are the truth of this world. Our people are trampled and then blamed for lying on the ground.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“God is amazing, isn’t He? He made mothers love so much it hurts,”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“notice the beauty in each day and do all the good we can with the gift of our lives.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“honor his memory better by finding hope rather than giving in to despair.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“do not borrow trouble.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Women roar their first babies into the world. It’s God’s way of announcing that you’ve become a mama.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“transformed by grief.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“For all our children we must plant the seeds of a liberty tree so that they may eat the fruit of justice we will never taste.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“How shall we make progress if we are only limited to the present?”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“She felt her understanding loosen and then come back together in a new way.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Sadie gazed at May, asleep in her arms, fully trusting in Sadie to care for her. She”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“She reminded herself to be grateful for the opportunity to earn some money rather than bitter at the need to be working.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“I desperately want to believe that the ugliness of the past is behind us. That we have moved past doubting we can be one nation with liberties equally given.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“But women understand the importance of a legitimate family. It is time to vote out men who do not serve our interests.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Changes for the better would come from those who cared enough to make them happen.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Yes, he is. A nice man passing for White,” Jordan chastised. “Do you know how dangerous it is to play with that? He cannot move between the two worlds without consequences. You would be wise to stay away from his mess.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“She’d never been outnumbered by people of another race. As a child in Oberlin, she had worshipped and gone to school in a racially mixed community, but she hardly remembered that. Their Methodist congregation in Oakland was composed of only White people, most of whom were native-born. And while her high school had students from all over the world, including China, there was only one Negro, and most of the students were Caucasian.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Mattie’s funeral was held at the AME, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Waiting for the service to begin, Sadie was acutely aware that there were only a handful of White people in the sanctuary. She’d never been outnumbered by people of another race.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“The wages of the factory workers were cut by a quarter, while their rent in the company town remains the same,” Jordan explained. Naomi added, “Mr. Pullman claims it was necessary due to the depression, but only the workingmen are affected, and the investors got a full dividend.” Jordan asked, “Do you believe the rumors of a strike?”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Jordan took in a deep breath and explained, “Passing is when a light-skinned Colored pretends to be White.” Lisbeth drew her eyebrows inward. Jordan continued, “It is more common than you probably realize.” Sadie asked, “To avoid the harm that can come from being a Negro?” “Yes,” Jordan replied. “And to get the benefits only accorded to White men: safety, respect, higher salaries.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Sounding defensive, Emily justified, “Willie went to get a job at the Pullman Company, expecting to follow in his father’s footsteps as a coal man. He was told he was in the wrong office and directed to a different department. There he was given a job as a conductor, which pays three times as much as his father makes. They had mistaken him for being White.” She shrugged. “He’s passing?”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“My mother used to say: ‘Women roar their first babies into the world. It’s God’s way of announcing that you’ve become a mama.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies

“Jordan, when you first born, you cry and the folks around you have smiles on they faces. If you live you life right, when you die you have a smile on you face and the folks surroundin’ you have tears in they eyes.”
― Laila Ibrahim, Golden Poppies