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Ibi Zoboi Quotes

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Famous Ibi Zoboi Quotes

“But the people remember that it happens again and again. A boy and his toy; a teenager on the phone; friends coming home from a party; a girl asking for the right way-- their breath and their light taken in just one shot. But the people still remember that with each rising sun is a new day. With each new year is a new dream; a new seed of hope unearthed, dusted, and polished. The people know that there will be a time of peace.”

HopePeaceRacismMurderAfrican AmericansBlacksBlack HistoryPolice BrutalityAfrican American History
Book:The People Remember
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“Blind Justice II All because we were in the wrong place we were in the wrong skins we were in the wrong time we were in the wrong bodies we were in the wrong country we were in the wrong were in the wrong in the wrong the wrong wrong All because they were in the right place they were in the right skins they were in the right time they were in the right bodies they were”

Criminal JusticeCriminal Justice SystemRacial JusticeRacial Injustice
Book:Punching the Air
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“and soon there was this invisible line we couldn't cross like we can't go where the nice places are Can't touch the nice things because everything about us our skin, our faces, our hair, our words, our music will break things will ruin things will make things ugly just by us being there But those white boys didn't care about no lines The world belonged to them including our hood”

Racial JusticeRacial Injustice
Book:Punching the Air
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“Umi didn’t know that I had cut school to visit the art museum downtown I had cut school to sit in the park on a bench with my sketch pad drawing trees and leaves and sky and birds just to get my skills up just to understand the rules of line and texture and shading and black and white Just so I can break those rules And I didn’t need Ms. Rinaldi to tell me that I wasn’t advanced or I didn’t have history”

Own VoicesPrison Abolition
Book:Punching the Air
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“Eyes watching through filtered screens seeing every lie, reading every made-up word like a black hoodie counts as a mask like some shit I do with my fingers counts as gang signs like a few fights counts as uncontrollable rage like failing three classes counts as being dumb as fuck like everything that I am, that I've ever been counts as being guilty”

Criminal JusticeCriminal Justice SystemRacial InjusticeCriminal Justice Reform
Book:Punching the Air
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“Saying down with the blacks but uplift the white race Raising the banner to the sun in haste Mobbed deep, hoods and capes Sun-dried and bloodstained Saying down with the blacks but uplift the white race Unjustly tried an indelible conviction the usual result of five shades of darker skin Justice unjust, black robes and pale face Didn't have a chance, they called us apes I wish I would have known the false smiles Evil intentions fulfilling their taste Why me? Why us? Justice unjust, black robes and pale faces?”

Criminal JusticeRacial DiscriminationCriminal Justice SystemRacial Injustice
Book:Punching the Air
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“Processed It's like I'm meat or wheat Made into a burger or deli slices Made into pasta or bread Processed Not the boy I was before the machine Before the braking down and pulling apart Before the adding and taking away I was made for easy, fast consumption Like food chains in the hood Umi said don't go there That you are what you eat Those jails that system has swallowed me whole”

Criminal JusticeCriminal Justice SystemCriminal Justice Reform
Book:Punching the Air
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“I dreamed of going to the most remote places on this earth to dig for old bones, older than people. Before humans and their stupid ideas. Before hate. Maybe even before love, too. Dinosaurs just existed. No lectures, no books, no language. No world-conquering Europeans and no defeated everybody else. Just those powerful, unrestrained creatures roaming the planet.”

PeopleLoveLifeEarthTimeHateOldDinosaursBlack Enough
Book:Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America
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