Barbara Smith Quotes
One of the greatest gifts of Black feminism to ourselves has been to make it a little easier simply to be Black and female.

Quotes to Explore
-
The first job I ever had was at a pool-liner-manufacturing plant. Minimum wage was $4.25, and that's what I was making. It was this huge, hot, un-air-conditioned factory staffed with all women and me. This is in Georgia, during the summertime, so it was pretty ridiculous.
-
I just don't think that I could be the kind of actor I want to be and not be honest with myself. Honesty is very important to me as an actor and as a person. I didn't even think about it.
-
Thanks to aid, a distressing number of African leaders care little about what their citizens want or need - after all it's the reverse of the Boston tea-party - no representation without taxation.
-
My songs have a lot going on in them -they're packed with sounds. When I have only three or four minutes to capture something, I guess I can't stand the idea of any bar going unloved.
-
So, you know, parenting is a very intimate and amazing experience and one of the best experiences of my life.
-
Women dress very much according to their moods, so when you see their shoes, it really shows you the character and what they want to show to the world, and what they are feeling at that time.
-
I often get mistaken for Dumbledore. One wizard is very much like another.
-
I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don't think about my work in those terms. It is just as vulgar to work for the sake of posterity as to work for the sake of money.
-
Not only did I get an A in music but I got an A in ladies.
-
The mistake of the West was to put the Sauds on the throne of Saudi Arabia and give them control of the world's oil fortune, which they then used to propagate Wahhabi Islam.
-
I want a future where my children feel safe and appreciated and proud to be who they are. My heart is one with all the Arab Spring heroes, no matter how small they think their role is. I know they believe, like me, that we are working for a world whereby an Arab can live with the other in a respectful and dignified way.
-
I want the single player experience.
-
I think I'm a songwriter. I grab an instrument to make my body a song, but I'm not a player as such, maybe a little more on guitar, but certainly not piano.
-
It is a myth of publishers that people want to read easy things.
-
Soon, I'll be like all the others. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain.
-
As a child, I wanted to go into advertising. I had a love affair with the advertising industry.
-
Fans can never accuse R. Kelly of doing the same thing; I keep mixing it up.
-
The funny thing is that my husband couldn't be sweeter. He looks like this bad boy. He's got tattoos and earrings and a mohawk, but when you talk to him and he's around you, he's such a gentleman. He holds doors for ladies. He pulls out chairs. He cooks. He cleans.
-
As a very young writer - kindergarten through about fifth grade - I most often wrote about black characters. My very early stories were science fiction and fantasy, with kids stowing away on spaceships and a girl named Tilly who was trying to get into the 'Guinness Book of World Records.'
-
Scientific inquiry starts with observation. The more one can see, the more one can investigate.
-
I am not altogether confident of my ability to put my thoughts into words: My texts are usually better after an editor has hacked away at them, and I am used to both editing and being edited. Which is to say that I am not oversensitive in such matters.
-
My father had the most horrible racist rhetoric you ever heard, but he treated people all the same. I remember this rainstorm. A car broke down with these black people in it, and nobody would stop. My dad was a mechanic. He fixed the car for nothing. I remember looking at him when he got back in. He said, 'Well, they got those kids in the car.'
-
One of the greatest gifts of Black feminism to ourselves has been to make it a little easier simply to be Black and female.