Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. Quotes
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We must invest in tomorrow. And pay our teachers for teaching as we pay our coaches for coaching.
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A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do, you can learn about the new world you're in and take advantage of it.
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God knows it's a sign of a really sick mind to see grown people, adults with responsibilities, wearing class rings.
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I am of the generation of segregation. Black Lives Matter is post. I said today, and I will say all the time, "If Nina [Simone] were here, she'd have her Black Lives Matter [T-shirt] on." I think they're great kids. They don't need me or anybody else to tell them what to do.
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The trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans. I say, the trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans.
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I hope that, reading 'Rosa,' people will remember their own family and friends and talk about what they did and did not do.
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And like an unfaithful mate, once a car has let you down you never sort of trust it again.
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Mistakes are a fact of life. If you are willing to be wrong then you have earned the right to be right.
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You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts because if you write with someone looking over you shoulder, you'll never write.
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I am so hip even my errors are correct
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A white face goes with a white mind. Occasionally a black face goes with a white mind. Very seldom a white face will have a black mind.
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Sacred cows make very poor gladiators.
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Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations.
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You do what you can with what you have. You have to work the edges whatever they are. The main thing is keeping your integrity.
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We are less lonely when we connect. Art is connection.
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When younger, I thought one of the particulars of being "Homo sapiens" was to communicate. I have not learned not to, though I am cautious when I try.
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Follow your image as far as you can no matter how useless you think it is. Push yourself.
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I’ve not learned the acceptable way of saying you fascinate me...I’ve not even learned how to say I like you without frightening people away-
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Libraries...house our dreams.
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I used to dream militant dreams of taking over america to show these whitefolks how it should be done i used to dream radical dreams of blowing everyone away with my perceptive powers of correct analysis i even used to think that i'd be the one to stop the riot and negotiate the peace then i awoke & dug that if i dreamed natural dreams of being a natural woman doing what a woman does when she's natural i would have a revolution.
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Fanatics are, for one thing, boring and, for another, unreliable. They tend to burn out just when you need them.
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You must invent your own games and teach us old ones how to play.
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I think one of the nicest things that we created as a generation was just the fact that we could say, 'Hey, I don't like white people.'
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Nothing improves your writing, I think, as much as your keeping writing.