17 Quotes by Angela Rye

If our culture is so often readily and easily appropriated, imagine what happens when we embrace our full blackness and know that our contributions are just as important to the shaping of the country and, more broadly, the world.

I am not interested in trying to convince and change the mind of a bigot.

I am tired of people telling me that black people are beneath a standard when we have to be twice as good all the time.

I grew up always thinking that fighting for justice was our obligation, whether that's giving your voice to something, serving as a verbal advocate for someone, or physically being in spaces or occupying space to make and create change.

Whether it's freedom to express, freedom to live, freedom to earn, freedom to thrive, freedom to learn, whatever it is, I want to make sure that I'm a part of these spaces and opening doors.

My father constantly reminded me that he named me after Angela Yvonne Davis, a scholar and activist who was well known for her work in tandem with the Black Panther Party. That felt like a purposeful, beckoning call to engage in strategic resistance and to fight for the oppressed.

Not only did I always know I was black, I always knew we were and are beautiful, culturally rich, and creators of everything from the sciences to the arts.

Ben Carson said black people worked for less. I have breaking news: we built this joint for free. We didn't build it for less.

Whether you want to do a letter-writing campaign or a march or start a social media hashtag - whatever it is - know that there are people out there that are thinking exactly like you're thinking and are also afraid to take that next and very important step.