Felt, for the first time, what she would often feel with him: a self-affection. He made her like herself. With him, she was at ease; her skin felt as though it was her right size.
Before he fell asleep, Molière’s words came to him, strangely comforting: Unbroken happiness is a bore; it should have ups and downs.
And felt, for the first time, what she would often feel with him: a self-affection. He made her like herself. With him, she was at ease; her skin felt as though it was her right size.
Am angry. We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of bringing about positive change. In addition to anger, I am also hopeful, because I believe deeply in the ability of human beings to remake...
About what boys think of them. But the reverse is not the case. We don’t teach boys to care about being likeable. We spend too much time telling girls that they cannot be angry or aggressive or tough,...
You must nod back when a black person nods at you in a heavily white area. It is called the black nod. It is a way for black people to say You are not alone, I am here too.
You look like a black American was his ultimate compliment, which he told her when she wore a nice dress, or when her hair was done in large braids.
You know, we live in an ass-licking economy. The biggest problem in this country is not corruption. The problem is that there are many qualified people who are not where they are supposed to be becaus...
You know, like race is a brew best served mild, tempered with other liquids, otherwise white folk can’t swallow it.
You know who really killed Lumumba? Master said, looking up from a magazine. It was the Americans and the Belgians. It had nothing to do with Katanga.
Yes, but I’m worried I will leave grad school and no longer be able to speak English. I know this woman in grad school, a friend of a friend, and just listening to her talk is scary. The semiotic dial...
Women must be covered up to protect men. I find this deeply dehumanizing because it reduces women to mere props used to manage the appetites of men.
With him, she was at ease; her skin felt as though it was her right size.
Why were we raised to speak in low tones about periods? To be filled with shame if our menstrual blood happened to stain our skirt? Periods are nothing to be ashamed of. Periods are normal and natural...
Why was nigger bleeped out? I mean, nigger is a word that exists. People use it. It is part of America. It has caused a lot of pain to people and I think it is insulting to bleep it out. ...it's like...
Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that? Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general—but to choo...
Why should a woman’s success be a threat to a man? What if we decide to simply dispose of that word—and I don’t know if there is an English word I dislike more than this—emasculation.
Why does it have to be you as a woman? Why not you as a human being? This type of question is a way of silencing a person’s specific experiences.
When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love. But the minute you step outside, race matter...
When it comes to dressing well, American culture is so self-fulfilled that it has not only disregarded this courtesy of self-presentation, but has turned that disregard into a virtue. We are too super...