I write for young girls of color, for girls who don’t even exist yet, so that there is something there for them when they arrive. I can only change how they live, not how they think. Ntozake Shange More Quotes by Ntozake Shange More Quotes From Ntozake Shange in our ordinaryness we are most bizarre. Ntozake Shange ordinariness bizarre i usedta live in the world really be in the world free & sweet talkin good mornin & thank-you & nice day uh huh i cant now i cant be nice to nobody nice is such a rip-off regular beauty & a smile in the street is just a set-up Ntozake Shange rip nice sweet nice is such a rip-off. Ntozake Shange niceness rip nice Novels allow me to create a whole world. Ntozake Shange novel whole world I've never thought of leaving the South, never. Ntozake Shange south leaving There was quite a ruckus about the seven ladies in their simple colored dresses. I was truly dumbfounded that I was, right then and there, deemed the biggest threat to black men since cotton pickin', and not all women were in my corner, either. Ntozake Shange women black simple men I think art is a healing force, and if we give in to the joy that can be found in art, then we are able to sustain ourselves in spite of ourselves. Ntozake Shange think healing joy art My characters don't talk necessarily in a normal American way of talking. They talk a little different. Ntozake Shange american talk talking way Sisterhood is important because we are all we have to stand on. We have to stand near and by each other, pray for one another, and share the joys and the difficulties that women face in the world today. If we don't talk about it among ourselves, then we are made silent by the patriarchy, and that serves us no purpose. Ntozake Shange face women today world Multiculturalism is a white people joke. Ntozake Shange joke multiculturalism white people Art gives us the opportunity to have clarity as well as hope that we might be able to survive a situation, or hope that we can find a way out of it without too much more injury to ourselves. Ntozake Shange situation hope opportunity art When I die, I will not be guilty of having left a generation of girls behind thinking that anyone can tend to their emotional health other than themselves. Ntozake Shange generation die health thinking There was nothing to aspire to, no one to honor. Sojourner Truth wasn't a big enough role model for me. I couldn't go around abolishing slavery. Ntozake Shange me slavery truth honor Multiculturalism isn't about culture, it's about power. Ntozake Shange about multiculturalism power culture If anything is life-changing, being the descendant of a slave is. Ntozake Shange life-changing anything being slave White people use their literature to maintain culture. That's why you find references to Milton and Spencer and Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky in contemporary novels. Ntozake Shange you white culture people I remember that my mother used to take me to see ballets, especially if there were black people in them. Ntozake Shange me black mother people I was chastised for writing several obituaries for Malcolm X, exploring different aspects of his writing. One teacher in particular told me, didn't I think I was beating a dead horse? and dismissively threw my paper on my desk. Ntozake Shange think me horse teacher Before I went to college, I went to the S.N.C.C. office three times a week to offer my services and catch up on my 'Liberator' magazine. The other two days, I went to the Lycee Francais to keep my French crisp. I felt comfortable in the diversity of my worlds. Ntozake Shange diversity three office college I was constantly being sought after for money. And the vitriol that came my way from many who felt threatened by controversial aspects of 'for colored girls' was often frightening. Ntozake Shange who being money way
