The Black Queen Quotes

“Why is video evidence never enough to convict white people of killing us, but suspicion alone is enough to gun us down and lock us up?”
― Jumata Emill, The Black Queen

“You talk about her like she was an object. Like she was this thing, and not the person you helped bring into this world. And I treated her like she was irrelevant. She had every right to resent us. I resent us.”
― Jumata Emill, The Black Queen

“Her being the first Black homecoming queen really had me walking around thinking we had accomplished something great. But representation isn’t enough. It isn’t the liberation I thought it was. The homecoming elections policy, the racial quotas, it’s all another form of performative activism. It doesn’t really fix the issue if the same oppressive systems remain.”
― Jumata Emill, The Black Queen

“And Nathan knows that. His aunt held the title two years after my mother. Every time I see the woman, she brags about all the political connections she made while being queen, and how they led to her becoming our current lieutenant governor. I intended to use the title as a springboard to become a social media influencer. Something the infusion of followers and public appearances being queen could have easily helped me achieve. Fuck you, Nova!”
― Jumata Emill, The Black Queen

“The crown and engraved scepters every Lovett High homecoming queen receives aren’t the run-of-the-mill plastic tiaras you see at nearly every other high school. A family-owned local jeweler has crafted and donated the pieces to our high school’s queens since the daughter of the family’s patriarch won the title two years before my grandmother. The designs of the crown and scepter have varied over the years, but the quality remains the same. The sparkling accessories are made of sterling silver and adorned with hundreds of cubic zirconia crystals.”
― Jumata Emill, The Black Queen