“When I was eight years old, I wrote a paragraph-long short story about a goat on my mother's hundred-pound, black-and-white-screen laptop. The story came about largely because I liked the way the word 'goat' looked on the page, but I decided then and there that I wanted to be a writer. That desire never changed.” WayYearsLongStoriesWantedMotherDesireBlackWhiteChangedPagesHundredDecidedEightScreensPoundsShort StoryBlack And WhiteNever ChangeGoatsParagraphLaptops Author:Tea Obreht
“What babe new born is this that in a manger cries? Near on her lowly bed his happy mother lies. Oh, see the air is shaken with white and heavenly wings-- This is the Lord of all the earth, this is the King of Kings.” EarthLyingMotherBornWhiteLordAirCryKingsBedWingsChristmasHeavenlyBabe Book:The Celestial Passion Source: The Celestial Passion
“We take the star from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.” CountryMotherHeavenStarsWhiteLibertyRedPosterityRepresentingSeparatingStripesFlag DayMother CountryWhite Stripes Author:George Washington
“Just as the child must trust his mother, the white belt must believe in the good will of his instructor. There will be a time for questioning, but for now he must focus and train.” BelieveChildrenMotherWhiteFocusTrainQuestioningBeltsGood WillInstructors Author:Saulo Ribeiro
“I was Minnie Mouse for Halloween, every year when I was little. Then, I had the Cinderella nightgown, when I was really little, that I begged my mother to wear to school. I was also Snow White a lot.” YearsLittlesSchoolMotherWhiteSnowMiceHalloweenSnow WhiteMinnieMinnie Mouse Author:Sarah Silverman
“My mother bore me in the southern wild, And I am black, but O! my soul is white; White as an angel is the English child, But I am black as if bereaved of light.” IfsChildrenSoulLightMotherBlackWhiteAngelMy SoulSouthernBores Author:William Blake
“I didn't like what was on TV in terms of sitcomsit had nothing to do with the color of themI just didn't like any of them. I saw little kids, let's say 6 or 7 years old, white kids, black kids. And the way they were addressing the father or the mother, the writers had turned things around, so the little children were smarter than the parent or the caregiver. They were just not funny to me. I felt that it was manipulative and the audience was looking at something that had no responsibility to the family.” WayYearsChildrenLittlesKidsMotherFatherFeltParentBlackTermWhiteResponsibilityAudienceSawsColorTvsSmarterLittle KidSitcomManipulativeCaregivers Author:Bill Cosby
“We are all connected. What unites us is our common humanity. I don't want to oversimplify things - but the suffering of a mother who has lost her child is not dependent on her nationality, ethnicity or religion. White, black, rich, poor, Christian, Muslim or Jew - pain is pain - joy is joy.” WantChildrenChristianPainJoyMotherSufferingHumanityLostBlackWhitePoorCommonRichJewConnectedDependentNationalityEthnicityRich PoorCommon Humanity Author:Desmond Tutu
“My definition of good is that you understand that this is a question of power. That you be willing to give up some power. That you be willing to give up some resources. That you be willing to pay Black people reparations for our years and years of service in this country. That you be willing to go home and tell your white mother and father about white racism and how it affects and kills Black people in our communities. That's my definition of good white people, and I haven't met any like that.” PeopleGivingYearsCountryHomeMotherFatherBlackCommunityWhitePayHavensWillingMetsGiving UpRacismResourcesDefinitionsBlack PeopleOur CommunityMother And FatherReparationsWhite RacismYears Of Service Author:Sister Souljah
“Bill Clinton may in fact be moving back into the White House. And coincidentally I'm thinking about moving back into my mother's house.” ThinkingMayFactsMovingMotherHouseWhiteBillsClintonWhite HouseMoving Back Author:David Letterman
“At first I read mostly books by Southern authors - black and white - because almost all the people I knew were born and raised in the South, starting with my mother. I remember I got a lot of Erskine Caldwell.” PeopleFirstsBookRememberMotherBlackBornWhiteSouthRaisedStartingSouthernBlack And WhiteBorn And RaisedRaised In The South Author:Edward P. Jones
“Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no more wars. We shall be all alike - brothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country around us and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers' hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race is waiting and praying. I hope no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.” PeopleMenMayMadeWarCountryHandsGovernmentEarthFacesSpiritMotherFatherWaitingWhiteRaceSkyLandBrotherPrayingMen And WomenRainEarsTreatsSpotsChiefsIndianBloodyWoundedWhite ManGreat Spirit Author:Chief Joseph
“I got a flash of ... what it means, now, 'you can't be too rich or too thin.' How well it works, will keep on working, because the vast majority of women will never be thin. Thin enough. How well the hope of class mobility keeps every mother dieting, and handing the diets down to her daughter, hoping the daughter may do even better. When you combine this with the fact that many non-white peoples tend to be heavier than white folks, dieting becomes a tool not only in enforcing class but in encouraging assimilation.” WellsMayMeanEnoughFactsMotherWomenWhiteClassRichDaughterToolsWeightMajorityFolksDietsFlashAssimilationDietingMobility Author:Elana Dykewomon
“What does it mean to be a used white wife, a mother, a tragic girl writing poems? Sandra Simonds gets into these messy words and then tears them apart. Sometimes with the words of others. And sometimes with poems made from scratch. They aren't all bad, these words. But they aren't all good either. And that is where Mother was a Tragic Girl gets its power. You will at moments be laughing but then you will also at moments just as much be crying. If Antigone was alive and decided to write some poems about the nuclear family, she would write them like Sandra Simonds. These are tough.” IfsWritingMeanDoeMadeSometimesMomentsUsedMotherGirlWhiteLaughingAliveWifeCryTearsToughDecidedNuclearTragicScratchesMessyAntigoneWriting PoemsNuclear Families Author:Juliana Spahr
“Barack Obama's mother-in-law might be moving into the White House with him. Joe Biden was right. Hostile forces will test him in the first few months.” FirstsMightMovingLawMotherHouseForceWhiteMonthsTestsBarackWhite HouseHostileIn-lawsBidenMother In Law Author:Jay Leno
“I think that people assumed I was white because of my last name. My father is Caucasian, my mother is Hispanic. But English was my second language, believe it or not.” PeopleThinkingBelieveLastsMotherFatherNamesLanguageWhiteHispanicCaucasian Author:George Zimmerman
“As I was growing up, you know, I'm a white Jewish American born to Holocaust parents. My father fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and my mother's family had fled the czars of Russia before that.” KnowsMotherFatherParentBornWhiteGrowing UpGrowingRussiaGermanyHolocaustNaziNazi GermanyCzars Author:Eugene Jarecki
“I don't want to know about the constitution of the rapist--I want to kill him! I don't care if he is white or black, if he is middle-class or poor, if his mother hung him from the clothesline by his balls: I only want to kill him! Any woman who has been raped will agree.” IfsKnowsWantHas BeensCareMotherBlackWhitePoorClassMiddleBallsConstitutionAgreeDon't CareI Don't CareMiddle ClassHungClotheslines Author:Diamanda Galas
“My grandmother's feet had been bound when she was two years old. Her mother...first wound a piece of white cloth about twenty feet long round her feet, bending all the toes except the big toe inward and under the sole. Then she placed a large stone on top to crush the arch.” YearsFirstsLongTwoBigsMotherWhitePiecesFeetStonesTwentiesBoundsRoundsChinaWoundsCrushGrandmotherTwo YearsSoleInwardToesMy GrandmotherArchesBendingTwo Year Olds Author:Jung Chang
“My father has passed away. He was African-American. My mother is white. So I was adopted by a couple that was of a similar dynamic as my biological parents.” MotherFatherParentWhiteCoupleAfrican AmericanAdoptedPassed Away Author:Keegan-Michael Key