Punching the Air Quotes

“When you find yourself in dark places, there's always a light somewhere in that darkness, and even if that light is inside of you, you can illuminate your own darkness by shedding that light on the world.”
― Yusef Salaam, Punching the Air

“Don't ever stop dreaming big
But for now, put that dream on paper
It's easier to carry around”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“We were
a mob
a gang
ghetto
a pack of wolves
animals
thugs
hoodlums
men

They were
kids
having fun
home
loved
supported
protected
full of potential
boys”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“The only way to survive hell is to walk through”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Blind Justice II

All because

we were in the wrong place
we were in the wrong skins
we were in the wrong time
we were in the wrong bodies
we were in the wrong country
we were in the wrong
were in the wrong
in the wrong
the wrong
wrong

All because

they were in the right place
they were in the right skins
they were in the right time
they were in the right bodies
they were”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“school teaches you what to think
not how to think and nobody raises
their hands except to give
the right answer”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“And maybe
there are small
cracks in our walls
and we start to see
a sliver of light
shine through

in each other”
― Yusef Salaam, Punching the Air

“My lips are sealed
but my words have a life of their own
Even if they're locked up
they'll bounce off three walls and slip between
metal bars”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“English requires two mouths to speak
and four ears to understand”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“My life, my whole damn life
before that courtroom
before that trial
before that night
was like Africa

And this door leads to a slave ship
And maybe jail maybe jail
is is America”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“because where I come from
jail or death
were the two options she handed to us
because where he came from
the American Dream
was the one option she handed to them

So here we are, blind Lady Justice
I see you, too”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“And we stepped onto
the tipping scales of Lady Justice
with her eyes blindfolded, peeking through slits
because that rag is so fucking old
worn-out, stretched thin, barely even there”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“They believed those lies about me

and made themselves
a whole other boy
in their minds
and replaced me with him”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Umi told me to wear a gray suit because optics

But that gray didn’t make me any less black”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“And we stepped onto the tipping scales of Lady Justice with her eyes blindfolded, peeking through slits because that rag is so fucking old worn-out, stretched thin, barely even there”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“I became the color red
boiling-hot lava
rising to the surface

I became a dragon
and the planet Mars

I became
war

I became
rage and revenge”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“The bookshelves here
are not walls
They're closed windows
and all I have to do
is pull out one book
to make these windows
wide open”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“The story that I thought
was this life
didn't start on the day
I went to that park

The story that I think
will be my life
starts today

Anything that happened
before today
is only the prequel
the backstory

the story behind the story

Nothing before today matters”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Eyes watching through filtered screens
seeing every lie, reading every made-up word

like a black hoodie counts as a mask
like some shit I do with my fingers
counts as gang signs
like a few fights counts as uncontrollable rage
like failing three classes
counts as being dumb as fuck
like everything that I am, that I've ever been
counts as being

guilty”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“And we stepped onto the tipping scales of Lady Justice”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Saying down with the blacks but uplift the white race
Raising the banner to the sun in haste
Mobbed deep, hoods and capes
Sun-dried and bloodstained
Saying down with the blacks but uplift the white race

Unjustly tried an indelible conviction
the usual result of five shades of darker skin
Justice unjust, black robes and pale face

Didn't have a chance, they called us apes
I wish I would have known the false smiles
Evil intentions fulfilling their taste
Why me? Why us?
Justice unjust, black robes and pale faces?”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“They call it free time
and it's the biggest lie
because we are
still here”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Processed

It's like I'm meat or wheat
Made into a burger or deli slices
Made into pasta or bread
Processed
Not the boy I was before the machine
Before the braking down and pulling apart
Before the adding and taking away

I was made for easy, fast consumption
Like food chains in the hood
Umi said don't go there
That you are what you eat

Those jails that system
has swallowed me whole”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Grandma calls me *Master* Amal
because she says
I am the master of my own destiny
I am the master of my own fate
I am the master of my body, mind, and spirit

So there was only room for one master
and Clyde ain't it”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Umi didn’t know
that I had cut school
to visit the art museum downtown
I had cut school
to sit in the park
on a bench with my sketch pad
drawing trees and leaves and sky and birds
just to get my skills up
just to understand the rules
of line and texture
and shading
and
black and white
Just so I can break those rules
And I didn’t need Ms. Rinaldi
to tell me that I wasn’t advanced
or I didn’t have history”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“On the day of my conviction I memorize my inmate number my crime my time On the day of my conviction I forget my school ID number my top three colleges my class schedule”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“Black Mona Lisa

My umi's face is
the most beautiful in the world

Skin
like sleeping in on snow days
beneath thick blankets
black

Smile
like an eighty-degree
summer day in April
bright

Eyes
like long subway rides
looking out windows watching
nothing and everything go by in the dark
and letting my thoughts swim
deep”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“The county jail behind the courtroom is called the tombs because it’s where the system buries their dead”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“And we stepped onto the tipping scales of Lady Justice with her eyes blindfolded, peeking through slits because that rag is so fucking old worn-out, stretched thin, barely even there Amal Shahid to the left​Jeremy Mathis to the right perfectly imbalanced because where I come from jail or death were the two options she handed to us because where he comes from the American Dream was the one option she handed to them So here we are, blind Lady Justice I see you, too”
― Ibi Zoboi, Punching the Air

“The first book
he gave me was
“The Autobiography of Malcolm X”

And I thought he was
trying to tell me something
because Malcolm was Muslim

Malcolm was a thug
Malcolm was in jail
Malcolm was all about the people

Malcolm went to Mecca
Malcom said some shit
Malcolm was shot dead

The only book
I gave Clyde was
“The Rose That Grew from Concrete”

I was definitely
trying to tell him something
because Tupac was a poet

Tupac was a thug
Tupac went to jail
Tupac was all about the people

Tupac went everywhere
Tupac said some shit
Tupac was shot dead

Clyde didn’t know
that Umi made me read
all about Malcolm in eighth grade

Clyde didn’t know
that I read about Martin Luther King
and Nelson Mandela, too

Clyde didn’t know
that I’d read big books
and watched documentaries on my own

Clyde didn’t know
that I’d reread that book in five days
because after two months

He asked me if I was done
And by that point
I had gotten through twelve books

To take my mind off things for a little while, I said”
― Ibi Zoboi , Punching the Air