Zetta Elliott Quotes

I’m not sure which matters more—where the seed comes from, or where it takes root and grows.

As if they could not believe a black person would dare to defend herself. It’s as if they expect us to just give up without a fight, to let them kill us, as if this is their right.

your smile is not owed to any man -- genuine compliments are free

Do you not have hands? A woman can wield a weapon as easily as any man.

And that’s what love does, it wipes out all the messy parts so you can see the picture clear.

How to Resist march curse fume cry but save some of your salt to cure the rage so it lasts even longer write a poem write a check take a social media break take a long bath put lotion on your body then put your body in the street don’t waste your words on frauds be strategically silent or find the spaces of denial and shatter the silence with your screams close your ears to the lies but listen to the cries of the weak and the wounded keep the truth deep inside safe from the filthy fingers that warp everything they touch let it throb ache and break over and over again but don’t harden your heart harden your resolve instead most of all feel something feel something feel something

Men Made of Glass men made of glass beware my smile with lips closed I can cast a spell that will reduce you to shards I draw magic from a well more ancient than you can fathom I commune with unsettled spirits listening to their lament you spilled my sisters' blood because they denied you shame led to slaughter indefensible panic my sisters are black pearls far beyond your valuation you were never worthy and now your time is up

, I asked my fellow debaters to share something that made them feel hopeful about the US. I gave the answer I always give: “This is a nation of dreamers.” As bad as things get sometimes, we never stop imagining a better way forward…

We have a rat to find!

some

If you are silence about your pain they will kill you and say you enjoyed it.

The tenants' association broke up, and nobody else bothered trying to make our building look good. What's the point? You can't do nothing when the folks around you just don't care. Mama says people who have nothing of their own don't know how to take care of other people's things. Maybe that's so. I think people are just selfish. They got no problem making a mess of the train or the schoolyard of this building, but they wouldn't scribble on the walls or throw trash all over their own apartment. Mama says, don't be so sure. I think sometimes people want to own something so bad that they just can't help themselves. I know kids at school who carry markers with them wherever they go just so they can leave their tag someplace. To show that they've been there, or maybe to pretend that that space is theirs.

realized

Jesus, Lord,” he whispers to the stars, “where do white folks come from?” Esther sidles up behind him, her itching fists pressed into her narrow hips. “Same place they goin’ back to. Wish I could be there to watch ’em burn, but I’ll be with the righteous. God help ’em come Judgment Day.