Black Women Writers Quotes

“she was completely whole
and yet never fully complete”
― Maquita Donyel Irvin, Stories of a Polished Pistil: Lace and Ruffles

“The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.”
― Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

“Reinvent yourself over and over and over and over and over until you find home. There is no timeline for the soul.”
― Malebo Sephodi

“The voice of a Black woman should always be HERSELF ...

No edits - no erasure - no pressure - no expectations - no additions - no intruders”
― Malebo Sephodi

“As a Black Woman, I define self-care as the ability to safely and comfortably exhale.”
― Bethanee Epifani J. Bryant, Don't Fall Prey! Dating Tales, Trials, & Triumphs

“The collective, orchestrated fury of Black women can move the whole world.”
― Brittney Cooper, Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower

“He called you beautiful, for a black girl and you kissed him. It would not be the last time someone would pay you a provisional compliment, nor the last time you accept it. Back then, you had not yet realized, that those who view your beauty conditionally, undoubtedly felt the same towards your humanity.”
― Rafeif Ismail, Meet Me at the Intersection

“Madness, not just physical abuse, was the punishment for too much talk if you were female. Yet even as this fear of madness haunted me, hanging over my writing like a monstrous shadow, I could not stop the words making thought, writing speech. For this terrible madness which I feared, which I was sure was the destiny of daring women born to intense speech (after all, the authorities emphasized this point daily), was not as threatening as imposed silence, as suppressed speech.”
― Bell Hooks, Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black

“Moving from silence into speech is for the oppressed, the colonized, the exploited, and those who stand and struggle side by side a gesture of defiance that heals, that makes new life and new growth possible.”
― Bell Hooks, Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black

“However, the young person leaving college today, especially if she is a woman, must consider the possibility that her best offerings will be considered a nuisance to the men who also occupy her field. And then, having considered this, she would do well to make her mind to fight whoever would stifle her growth with as much courage and tenacity as Mrs. Hudson fights the Klan. If she is black and coming out into the world she must be doubly armed, doubly prepared. Because for her there is not simply a new world to be gained, there is an old world there must be reclaimed.”
― Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose

“We can all agree that tea is good for the body. However, tea is very good for our hair too.”
― Monica Millner, The Natural Hair Journal

“Quote Black Women to keep their words ablaze beyond any fire”
― Malebo Sephodi

“Black women, we deserve deep and abiding love. We deserve love without having to struggle, without having to prove ourselves worthy, without having to be the "ride or die" girl. Love, loyalty and respect just because we have a beautiful soul.”
― Janet Autherine, The Heart and Soul of Black Women: Poems of Love, Struggle and Resilience

“Accessible knowledge is the best kind”
― Malebo Sephodi

“Misbehaviour does not require a cape, shades or a bazooka. It is in decisions we make that challenge the notions adopted to keep us well behaved”
― Malebo Sephodi, Miss Behave

“I want to live in a society where we are all liberated. This is what my feminism looks like”
― Malebo Sephodi, Miss Behave

“Whatever good you have to bring into the world will be beneficial and it will be more than enough.”
― Bethanee Epifani J. Bryant

“Black Girl Magic is a wily cat to some. A unicorn of myth for others. But to those who can wrangle it into submission, it is hope found at the bottom of a jar of quarters.

Use in case of an emergency.”
― N.D. Jones, The Color of My Resilience: A Guided Self-Care Journal for Black Women

“Black Moms create magic, so that makes me magical.”
― Stephanie Lahart

“What else must we do and say?

What else must the oppressed do for a taste of freedom?”
― Malebo Sephodi

“Through Miss Behave I am attempting to reclaim my voice one word at a time and live my truth to the best of my ability”
― Malebo Sephodi, Miss Behave

“Black Beauty is not acknowledged, affirmed, or celebrated unless it is showcased on a non-Black body. We are the blueprint they publicly denounce and secretly covet. They will always be caricatures of our authenticity. Who are they without us?”
― Bethanee Epifani J. Bryant

“I was a young girl buying bubble gum at the corner store when I first really heard the full name bell hooks. I had just 'talked back' to a grown person. Even now I can recall the surprised look, the mocking tones that informed me I must be kin to bell hooks - a sharp-tongued woman, a woman who spoke her mind, a woman who was not afraid to talk back. I claimed this legacy of defiance, of will, of courage, affirming my link to my female ancestors who were bold and daring in their speech.”
― Bell Hooks, Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black

“The history of colonization, imperialism is a record of betrayal, of lies, and deceits. The demand for that which is real is a demand for reparation, for transformation. In resistance, the exploited, the oppressed work to expose the false reality - to reclaim and recover ourselves.”
― Bell Hooks

“I love science, current affairs, engines, bikes,lipsticks, human behaviour”
― Malebo Sephodi, Miss Behave

“Each chapter in MissBehave is about navigating life as a black woman and all encounters that led me to espouse feminist ideals”
― Malebo Sephodi, Miss Behave

“Power through. If you lose your way, follow the footsteps in the sand. If you stumble, angels are ready to hold your hand. If you fall, God will carry you to your destination.”
― Janet Autherine, Island Mindfulness: How to Use the Transformational Power of Mindfulness to Create an Abundant Life

“I am courageous because, despite it all, I still choose to love.”
― Bethanee Epifani J. Bryant, Don't Fall Prey! Dating Tales, Trials, & Triumphs

“The media constantly reinforces the message that what is demanded of us is unwavering strength, poise and diplomacy even in the face of extreme injustice.”
― Shanon Lee, The Washington Post

“The greatest act of revolution for any black woman is to put pen to paper with purpose.”
― Stalina Goodwin, Daughters of Zora: Affirmations for Black Women Writers