And from here on, wherever you see bigotry in the genre? Attack it. Don’t wait for it to come directly at you; attack it even if it’s hitting another group. If you won’t ride or die for anyone else, how can you expect them to ride or die for you? Understand that there are people in this genre who hate you, and who do not want you here, and who will hurt you if they can. Do not tolerate their intolerance. Don’t be “fair and balanced.” Tell them they’re unwelcome. Make them uncomfortable. Shout them down. Kick them out. Fucking fight.
“Don’t wait for it to come directly at you; attack it even if it’s hitting another group. If you won’t ride or die for anyone else, how can you expect them to ride or die for you?”
From N. K. Jemisin’s Wiscon 38 Guest of Honour speech. Click on through; there’s nothing someone like me can usefully add to this, except to tell as many people as possible to read it.
(via isanah)
Dr. Maya Angelou speaks explicitly about her experience with the stigma and shame of being a sex worker/former sex worker.
“I had a very rough time at 18… and I went on a national show and a woman did the interview who I knew slightly [she smiles softly here and raises her eyebrows] and she said “Maya Angelou! How does it feel to know you’re the first Black woman to have a national bestseller non fiction, your second book nominated for the Pulitzer, and to know that at 18 you were a prostitute?”
And it was like a kick in the stomach! However, there is this: You must always be careful who you call out. [She smiles very broadly here and nods to emphasise the word “careful”] When she said that, I said, “Ahhh but there are many ways to prostitute one’s self and you would know about that, wouldn’t you dear?”
Whereupon they went to break, [The interviewer laughs heartily] Yes, whereupon her co-host came and concluded the interview.”
Idol
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style
Maya Angelou (via majiinboo)
Maya Angelou 1928-2014
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.There are…
