22 Quotes by Aminah Mae Safi

You gave me books and articles. You keep telling me not to forget I'm Arab. But it's not just the white people reminding me who I am, Baba. Arabs remind me I'm not one of them too. This world may never let me forget I am Arab, but it will also keep me from belonging as one of them.

It's better to screw up on your own terms than to screw up on somebody else's. It's better to have something you now is yours rather than what everyone tells you that you should want.

She thought that irritation is sometimes the most honest way of expressing love.

Queens, Lulu-cat. We’ve crowned ourselves. We run ragged as we please. The only people who tell us what to do are each other.

You gave me books and articles. You keep telling me not to forget I’m Arab. But it’s not just the white people reminding me who I am, Baba. Arabs remind me I’m not one of them too. This world may never let me forget I am Arab, but it will also keep me from belonging as one of them.

There were so few times in Lulu’s life, so few moments, that the scared reached out and touched her. Sitting here, she felt it in her bones. It didn’t matter that this was two old customs married together in a strange, new thing that only belonged to her family. That was what made it so special to her in the first place.

Of strangers asking her over and over again what she was. Like a piece of flora or fauna. Like she was missing her proper taxonomy.

Don’t make me a heroine. Don’t make me a villain. You’ll be lucky enough to walk your own path.

It’s kind of amazing what you can do when you decided you can’t fail.