Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ishmael Reed
Ishmael Reed

Ishmael Reed Quotes

Poet

Filter quotes by topic

AllBlackWhiteWritingBookMenPeopleThinkingWorldHas BeensAmerica

Famous Ishmael Reed Quotes

“I reached the age of 70, because I have cultivated an association of multicultural intellectuals who are informed and alert to whatever "tricknology" that's laid on us by the powers that be. These include White ethnic intellectuals- people who know their roots- as well as Native American, Asian American, Hispanic and Black intellectuals. These are thirty, forty-year associations with some of the best minds around. Minds that are ignored by the media.”

PeopleKnowsYearsMindWellsAgeBlackWhiteMediaRootsThirtyNativeFortyAssociationNative AmericanIgnoredAsianHispanicMulticulturalAsian American
Author:Ishmael Reed
Create image

“In Crash, you've got a pathological cop who at the end justifies police brutality. He tells the naïve, young cop that you're going to end up the same as him. He's the most sympathetic character in the movie. So, the naïve cop ends up murdering this Black kid and tries to cover up the evidence. It sort of justifies police brutality and the planting of evidence which is what happened in the O.J. Simpson case.”

TryingEndsCharacterKidsYoungBlackCasesHappenedEvidencePoliceJustifyCopCrashPolice BrutalitySympatheticBrutalityCover Ups
Author:Ishmael Reed
Create image

“The liberal wing of the feminist movement may have improved the lives of its middle- and upper-class constituency--indeed, 1992 was the Year of the White Middle Class Woman--but since the leadership of this faction of the feminist movement has singled out black men as the meta-enemy of women, these women represent one of the most serious threats to black male well-being since the Klan.”

MenYearsWellsMayBlackWhiteEnemyClassMiddleMovementSeriousWingsThreatMalesFeministWell BeingMiddle ClassFactionsUpper ClassFeminist MovementBlack Males
Book:Airing Dirty Laundry
Create image

“A black boxer's career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”

StatesFacesBlackPerfectUnitedCareersUnited StatesObjectsMalesMetaphorOpponentsGymHostilityFascinationBoxersRudenessBlack MalesSparring
Book:Writin' is fightin': thirty-seven years of boxing on paper
Create image