“We are all wounded by racism…None of us, black or white, wants to feel the pain that racism has caused. But when you feel it, you’re awake.” – Toi Derricotte, ‘The Black Notebooks’

“…joy is the mostly invisible, the underground union between us, you and me…” – Ross Gay, ‘The Book of Delights’

“The National Anthem vampires at the blood. / I am a uniform. Not brusque. I bray” Gwendolyn Brooks, “Riders To The Blood-Red Wrath”

“If we feel deeply, and we encourage ourselves and others to feel deeply, we will find the germ of our answers to bring about change…” – Audre Lorde, in conversation with Claudia Tate

“There have always been those who use despair and desperation as weapons.” – N.K. Jemisin, ‘The Stone Sky’

“I love basketball” – Metta World Peace, at the free throw line

“The way of the world isn’t the strong devouring the weak, but the weak deceiving and poisoning and whispering in the ears of the strong until they become weak…” – N.K. Jemisin, ‘The Obelisk Gate’

“The minute you walk on the beach it is a very different feeling from any beach I’ve ever been on,” – GiGi Lucas, founder of SurfearNegra

“Survival doesn’t mean rightness.” – N.K. Jemisin, ‘The Fifth Season’

“I love to write love poems. I love loving.” – Audre Lorde, interviewed by Claudia Tate