This is really skin privilege, the ranking of color in terms of its closeness to white people or white-skinned people and its devaluation according to how dark one is and the impact that has on people who are dedicated to the privileges of certain levels of skin color.

Some Native American writers enjoy being called Native American writers.

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that supposed to mean? In my heart it don't mean a thing.

What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?

I wish I’d a knowed more people. I would of loved ‘em all. If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more

I thought the whole world was like Lorain.

I began to realize that this idea of the lighter the better and the darker the worse was really - had an impact on sororities, on friendships, on all sorts of things, and it was stunning to me.