“Building identity politics gave us a platform, an analysis, and a certain sense of confidence that we deserved to be part of the dialogue. If we had not done that, where would women of color be, as far as being able to assert the legitimacy of our concerns and the particularity of our point of view?”
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
Making Gay History podcast, interview
“When all you want is a few reforms given to you by corporate entities and/or by the government, you’re not really talking about fundamental political and social change. That comes from the fervor of people who are the most oppressed saying, ‘It has got to be different from now on.’”
“How we gets to the place where we scared to talk softness to each other?”
“It isn’t a circle—it is simply a long line—as in geometry, you know, one that reaches into infinity. And because we cannot see the end—we also cannot see how it changes. And it is very odd that those who see the changes—who dream, who will not give up—are called idealists… and those who see only the circle we call them the ‘realists’!”
“Their alikeness was something they needed, which could be important, even vital, to them—for the shades of their skin, places traveled to and from, events experienced, things understood... acts of violence committed, books read... ones they loved, living family, varied widely, came between them.”
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”
“I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, just like a fish is. I have a right to be this way... I can't apologize for that, nor can I change it, nor do I want to.... We will never have to be other than who we are in order to be successful.... We realize that we are as ourselves unlimited and our experiences valid. It is for the rest of the world to recognize this, if they choose.”
“Your silence will not protect you.”
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
“That is how I learned that if I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.”
“I think the most important thing for you to do in the meantime is live. It is a very involving job, which takes much concentration and practice.”
“Lesbianism: an Act of Resistance”
“Bisexuality means I am free and I am as likely to want to love a woman as I am likely to want to love a man, and what about that? Isn't that what freedom implies? If you are free, you are not predictable and you are not controllable.”
1977: Poem for Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer
Don’t let the fascists speak
For straight folks who don’t mind gays but wish they weren’t so blatant
For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend
janainaart
origamiaround
germansingergirl
2087
blakekathryn
jacobvanloon
jbbartram-illu
