Those of us forged in the crucibles of difference know that survival is not an academic skill.

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

...my experience with people who tried to label me was that they usually did it to either dismiss me or use me.

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect....what I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid? ...Death on the other hand, is the final silence...my silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you.

There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.

The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure to reach beyond the first patriarchal lesson. In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower.

We must constantly encourage ourselves and each other to attempt the heretical actions that our dreams imply and so many of our old ideas disparage.