I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.

stoicism and silence does not serve us nor our communities, only the forces of things as they are.

We cannot settle for the pretenses of connection, or for the parodies of self-love.

It is not the destiny of Black America to repeat white America's mistakes. But we will, if we mistake the trappings of success in a sick society for the signs of a meaningful life.

If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.

What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence.

Change is the immediate responsibility of each of us, wherever and however we are standing, in whatever arena we choose.