Part of being a revolutionary is creating a vision that is more humane. That is more fun, too. That is more loving. It's really working to create something beautiful.
Assata ShakurRead
When you go through all your life processing and abusing your hair so it will look like the hair of another race of people then you are making a statement and the statement is clear
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of embracing one's natural identity rather than conforming to societal standards.
Assata Shakur's quote highlights how individuals often feel pressured to alter their appearance to fit into societal norms that reflect another culture's standard of beauty. It serves as a critique of the ways in which people modify their natural selves, suggesting that such actions are a conscious choice that speaks volumes about their identity and cultural self-acceptance.
In practice
In a seminar about cultural identities, this quote can help spark discussions about self-acceptance and beauty standards.
Part of being a revolutionary is creating a vision that is more humane. That is more fun, too. That is more loving. It's really working to create something beautiful.
We had to learn that we're beautiful. We had to relearn something forcefully taken from us. We had to learn about Black power. People have power if we unite. We learned the importance of coming together and being active
I was sentenced to life plus 30 years by an all-White jury. What I saw in prison was wall-to-wall Black flesh in chains. Women caged in cells. But we're the terrorists. It just doesn't make sense.
My life wasn't beautiful and creative before I became politically active. My life was totally changed when I began to struggle.
Peace is a rare gift. Peace of mind, peaceful sleeps, and peaceful spirits are all luxuries that few rebels can ever afford.
And if I know anything at all, it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all. It can be broken down.
I always assumed that my otherness was a curse - that I would be held back by my Asian and queer identities.
I live half the year in Nigeria, the other half in the U.S. But home is Nigeria - it always will be. I consider myself a Nigerian who is comfortable in the world. I look at it through Nigerian eyes.
My mixed-race background made me a broad person, able to relate to different cultures. But any woman of colour, even a mixed colour, is seen as black in America. So that's how I regard myself.
It was very hard for me, for most of my life, to feel American, or call myself American, and that is a very complicated topic that would require a very long conversation.
I would rather be a member of this [Afrikan] race than a Greek in the time of Alexander, a Roman in the Augustan period, or Anglo-Saxon in the nineteenth century.
I think, as a kid, turning on the television and seeing that everyone seemed to be wealthy and white made me feel like an outsider, lesser than. I was not wealthy. I was not white.
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