You Got Anything Stronger? Quotes

“I thought of something he would sometimes say to himself and to others: “My belief is stronger than your doubt.” He usually said this when he was counted out after an injury, or walking away from a deal everyone thought he was crazy to turn away.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“The right thing to do is, as usual, the hard thing to do.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“The scene would give white people a chance to see themselves as complicit in cultural appropriation, but the takeaway for marginalized audiences would be different. It could tell them, "You're not crazy. Your physical and intellectual labor really has been stolen and repackaged for profit. It's real.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“When I was a little girl, my mother always told me that if I ever got lost in a big city, "Look for the rainbow flag." She believed in the goodness of the LGBTQ+ community, and knew there would be protection and direction there. I always found this to be true.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“Believing in yourself sounds gauzy and spiritual, but it has practical applications. It affects voice quality. You remove the tremor that comes from nerves, and you eliminate the filler language and those long pauses you use when trying to gather your thoughts. You don’t get thrown by the faces looking back at you, or the follow-up questions they throw at you. You own your story already, and lots of confidence comes from that. All because you chose your damn self.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“I would propose that to worry people are desensitized is to assume the jurors, and most people, were ever sensitive to Black pain to begin with.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“When you acknowledge that your vulnerability does not absolve anyone of personal accountability, you will heal from those traumas faster and more fully.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“I let her tell me who she was. I listened to her, even before she had words.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“Did we settle, land in a safe, this-will-do spot and tether ourselves to someone for decades so we wouldn’t be standing alone at the hour of our death? And was it actually worth it?”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories

“Why don’t you go the surrogacy route?” Each time this was presented, I felt the constant, public prodding to acknowledge my body’s failures.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories

“Maybe adulthood is learning how to be as kind to our family as we are to our friends.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“I am free and deserving simply because I exist . I don't have to do all these other things to be worthy of respect and safety.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“The Avengers you assemble don't have to be golden by the standards of the industry you are breaking into. They just need to have the same work ethic as you, and believe in effective communication and positive affirmation.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“I am continually awed by the honor and responsibility of raising free Black girls. May you each embrace your vulnerability as your superpower, and may I not falter as I attempt to lead by example.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“The eight women took off, racing to a photo finish in the time it took me to take a breath. The winner was Gail Devers, the woman who once could barely walk. Watching her victory lap, I felt that pull again on my heart. “A lot of times in athletics and in life you feel walls closing in and you can’t get out,” she said at the press conference afterward. “Use me as an example. If you believe in yourself, if you have faith in yourself, you can do anything.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?

“I got out my phone to research Croatia, and spent the night going down a rabbit hole learning about the country and its immigration policies. Because when you are confronted with that kind of perceived threat of violence, it plays with your head. You wonder what you might have done to incite it, when really, you just existed in a public space that did not want you. In 2019, there’d been a spike in nationalistic hate crimes in Croatia, one of the whitest countries in the world with Croats making up more than 90 percent of the population, and Serbs being its largest “minority.” That night I read countless accounts of Black travelers horrified by racism in Croatia, including apparent poisoning of meals at restaurants where waiters stood around and giggled as Black people ate. Beatings, intimidation, and refusal of service. I”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories

“It doesn’t matter what you say, it matters how you make people feel. And you can’t control that.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories

“When Black women assert themselves, that somehow threatens people. This happens in retail situations, corporate offices, and school hallways. A Black woman can be minding her own business, and how she responds to provocation or even a random question will be used against her.”
― Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories