“A lot of times, people say that people read to escape. But I think if you come from any community that is underrepresented, in any kind of media, whether that's around race, around class, or sexual orientation, religion, whatever it may be, sometimes you read to be affirmed. To have your humanity rendered complexly. And sometimes seeing yourself on the page is affirming. And we know that for some young people, that can also be life-saving.” PeopleThinkingKindSometimesHumanityCommunityAffirming Author:Sofia Quintero
“Not only did we survive AIDS, Reaganomics, poverty, racism, gang violence, police brutality, substance abuse - not only did we survive that, we created something endured. And whatever you might think of commercial hip hop now, there's a lot there to like and there's a lot there to critique and there's a lot of things you could say both about. But we created something that endured when we ourselves were not supposed to endure. When we ourselves were not supposed to survive and thrive. So I think that is worthy of respect and preservation and it's US history.” ThinkingPovertyViolenceRacismAbusePoliceEndureHip HopWorthyAidsThriveGangPolice BrutalityCritiqueSubstance Abuse Author:Sofia Quintero