Sometimes I sound like gravel, and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream.
Nina SimoneRead
You feel the shame, humiliation, and anger at being just another victim of prejudice, and at the same time, there's the nagging worry that maybe... you're just no good.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the emotional turmoil faced by victims of prejudice, blending feelings of shame and self-doubt.
Nina Simone's quote explores the deep emotional effects of prejudice on individuals, highlighting not only the external forces of shame, humiliation, and anger but also the internal struggle with self-worth that victims may experience. It emphasizes how societal biases can lead to a complex sense of identity crisis, where individuals question their own value in addition to feeling victimized by others.
In practice
In a discussion about social justice at a community meeting.
Sometimes I sound like gravel, and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream.
Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.
I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.
Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.
I didn't get interested in music. It was a gift from God.
This may be a dream, but I'll say it anyway: I was supposed to be married last year, and I bought a gown. When I meet Nelson Mandela, I shall put on this gown and have the train of it removed and put aside, and kiss the ground that he walks on and then kiss his feet.
Our union represents a breaking away...represents sharing a power, represent questioning, represents a new force...however long it takes, we are geared for a struggle.
Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.
When there is oppression and dictatorship, by not speaking out, we lose our dignity.
I bet some of you feel sorry for me. Well don't. Having an artificial leg has its advantages. I've broken my right knee many times and it doesn't hurt a bit.
For a dying man it is not a difficult decision [to agree to become the world's first heart transplant] ... because he knows he is at the end. If a lion chases you to the bank of a river filled with crocodiles, you will leap into the water convinced you have a chance to swim to the other side. But you would not accept such odds if there were no lion.
If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country.
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