Before I was ever a poet, my father was writing poems about me, so it was a turning of the tables when I became a poet and started answering, speaking back to his poems in ways that I had not before.
Natasha TretheweyRead
People always want to be on the right side of history; it is a lot easier to say, 'What an atrocity that was' then it is to say, 'What an atrocity this is.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the tendency of people to criticize past events while avoiding accountability for current issues.
Natasha Trethewey's quote reflects on human nature's inclination to judge historical injustices rather than confront current problems. It emphasizes the discomfort associated with recognizing ongoing atrocities and suggests that it is much simpler to voice outrage after the fact than to take a stand in the present. This underscores the importance of active participation in societal issues rather than complacent historical reflection.
Themes
HistoryAtrocityAccountabilitySocietyMoral Responsibility
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, a speaker might use this quote to encourage active engagement in current issues.
More from Natasha Trethewey
All quotes →I've been telling my students, 'Imitate, imitate.' And they say, 'Well, what if I plagiarize, or what if I'm not original? I want to be myself.' And I always tell them, 'Your self will shine through'... If you allow yourself to feel deeply and honestly, what you say won't be like anyone else.
Natasha TretheweyRead
I think that it's hard enough being an adolescent and wanting so much to fit in with your peers, your schoolmates, and to erase any sign of difference, to be part of the group. And being biracial but also being black in a predominately white school marked me as different.
Natasha TretheweyRead
'Memory.' 'Race.' 'Murder.' That's what they say about me. I am an elegiac poet. I have some historical questions, and I'm grappling with ways to make sense of history; why it still haunts us in our most intimate relationships with each other, but also in our political decisions.
Natasha TretheweyRead
For a long time, I've been interested in cultural memory and historical erasure.
Natasha TretheweyRead
Often as a poet I find that I am somewhat outside an experience I want to hold onto, consciously taking mental notes or writing them down in my journal - for fear that I will forget. It's not unlike being on a trip and taking pictures, your face behind a camera the whole time - the entire experience mediated by a lens.
Natasha TretheweyRead
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