“I think sometimes the stars align whether we want them to or not. And we're drawn to certain people and places for no other reason than...Destiny.” PeopleThinkingWantSometimesReasonCertainStarsDestiny Author:Morgan Parker
“I spent a lot of time trying to layer upon layer upon layer as I wrote. I think that's often the fear of a writer, that little nuances won't get picked up.” ThinkingTryingLittlesLayersNuance Author:Morgan Parker
“I think that fear came from, "Okay, I'm going to have Beyoncé in the title, and people are just going to think, it's Beyoncé poems. It's light and fun." I was kind of super-conscious of that. It's kind of like this weird trick I'm playing, where you're like, "What an interesting, fun cover, and then the name Beyoncé." Then you open it, and it's just about my depression. All of it belongs together.” PeopleThinkingKindLightTogetherNamesFunInterestingConsciousOkayTricksTitles Author:Morgan Parker
“It's hard for black women to ask for help. We think we don't need it. We're used to being in pain and living with it.” ThinkingNeedsHardHelpingPainUsedAsksBlackBlack Women Author:Morgan Parker
“I don't think that there are as many black women or women of color becoming psychiatrists, so we can't find them and then we feel looked at and studied and that's part of what is damaging to us. It's hard to find therapy that is actually a tool for your own liberation. I think we can be really distrustful.” ThinkingFeelsHardBlackColorBecomingToolsLiberationTherapyBlack WomenPsychiatrist Author:Morgan Parker
“I think that we need to make it our goal to define freedom for ourselves.” ThinkingNeedsGoal Author:Morgan Parker
“I also think that [political turmoil] gives artists something, a way of kind of processing.” ThinkingWayGivingKindPoliticalArtistTurmoilProcessingPolitical Turmoil Author:Morgan Parker
“My friends and I have all been super motivated to work and to do the work that we need to and want to and think should be in the world.” ThinkingWorldWantNeedsShouldMy FriendsMotivated Author:Morgan Parker
“Hard times are really a fire under your ass to prioritize and think, "Okay, how can I challenge myself to put something in the world that wasn't there that can reach other folks and help them to process?"” ThinkingWorldHardHelpingProcessChallengesFireOkayFolksAssHard TimesPrioritize Author:Morgan Parker
“I think often if people don't have a lot of experience with a particular type of person or a particular type of brain, they can make dangerous assumptions. That's one of the reasons that I'm so interested in contradicting and troubling held thoughts about black women.” PeopleIfsThinkingPersonsReasonBlackBrainDangerousParticularTypeAssumptionBlack WomenContradicting Author:Morgan Parker
“Since the election [of Donald Trump], I've been thinking about a lot of theory. Lots of [Michel] Foucault and [Karl] Marx, thinking about different systems, thinking about power. Trying to figure out what I can take and learn from history as a tool for getting through whatever is happening right now, which feels very significant and major.” ThinkingFeelsTryingI CanDifferentFiguresTheoryTrumpRight NowMajorsHappeningsToolsElectionSignificantSystems Thinking Author:Morgan Parker
“There's something about us using the word fascism and thinking about, "What is it? What does it mean, and what are the tenets of it?".” ThinkingMeanDoeFascism Author:Morgan Parker
“I've been thinking a lot about folks denying what has happened in history, or just not acknowledging it.” ThinkingHappenedFolks Author:Morgan Parker
“I think there's something that's fascist [in Donald Trump's election], and something that I think we could probably learn from, in terms of the energy in the world right now.” ThinkingWorldEnergyTermTrumpRight NowElectionFascists Author:Morgan Parker
“After a while, being so honest and so vulnerable on the page ends up affecting my own kind of self possession in the world, because I am not afraid of myself and my own thoughts. I think so much of being a woman, of being a social being, of being polite, is quieting those thoughts. There's so much we try not to say as we go through the day. There's a lot of tempering and self-editing. It is a relief to make writing that space where I don't need to do that.” ThinkingWorldWritingTryingKindHonestPossessionVulnerableNot AfraidPoliteBeing Polite Author:Morgan Parker
“Art movements are always linked to some kind of turmoil. We can look at history and see that [political turmoil is] fertile ground for art. I also think that it gives artists something, a way of kind of processing. My friends and I have all been super motivated to work and to do the work that we need to and want to and think should be in the world. Hard times are really a fire under your ass to prioritize and think, "Okay, how can I challenge myself to put something in the world that wasn't there that can reach other folks and help them to process"?” ThinkingWorldGivingKindArtHelpingPoliticalArtistChallengesOkayAssHard TimesMotivatedPrioritize Author:Morgan Parker
“There's something about us using the word fascism and thinking about, "What is it? What does it mean, and what are the tenets of it?" I've been thinking a lot about folks denying what has happened in history, or just not acknowledging it. I think there's something that's fascist, and something that I think we could probably learn from, in terms of the energy in the world right now.” ThinkingWorldMeanEnergyTermFascism Author:Morgan Parker
