Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity. Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, revelling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community.
Bell HooksUsually, when people talk about the "strength" of black women . . . . they ignore the reality that to be strong in the face of oppression is not the same as overcoming oppression, that endurance is not to be confused with transformation.
Bell HooksI want there to be a place in the world where people can engage in one anotherโs differences in a way that is redemptive, full of hope and possibility. Not this โIn order to love you, I must make you something elseโ. Thatโs what domination is all about, that in order to be close to you, I must possess you, remake and recast you.
Bell HooksSexism has never rendered women powerless. It has either suppressed their strength or exploited it.
Bell HooksHip-Hop is diverse. But the white, capitalist producers and distributors of Hip-Hop are most interested in the Hip-Hip that is misogynist, that is Black-hating, that is pugilistic, that is to say all about fighting and war and killing and gangsterism.
Bell Hooks