22 Quotes by Ijeoma Umebinyuo

InvisibleShe scanned through the magazinefor girls who looked like herwith deeper hues,flat nose, and thick hair.The day she turned fifteenshe scrubbed herself with bleach while screaming for God,whispering over and over again"the darker the skin,the deeper the struggle"releasing a sighthat made her soul shake.

The white feminist becomes the CEO. The black feminist becomes the exiled rebel. The white feminist speaks about teaching literacy like i should thank her, hold her hand, kiss her for teaching children of darker skin. The black feminist should be grateful. The black feminist wears her natural hair, she is called ‘too rebellious’. The white feminist cuts her hair, she is brave. The white feminist gets featured on TIME. The black feminist is the fine print.

So, here you aretoo foreign for hometoo foreign for here. Never enough for both.

Survive...Some women surviveby creating walls,big walls guarding their heartsand you say"let them in"butshe has been covered in regrets,crawled on all fours for her salvation.Dont curse themfor when her attacker camethere she was, loving, nowshe has built her wallsbrick by brickguarding against parasitesDon't blame herSome women are broken,not ready to be healed,some women are brokennot ready for loveand that's all right.Let her find herselfLet her become her own sunLet her

The day your education makes you roll your eyes at your father. The day your exposure makes you call your own mother uncivilized, the day your amazing foreign degrees make you cringe as your driver speaks pidgin english, may you never forget your grandfather was a farmer from Oyo state who never understood english.

I told the priestmy god is a black womanhe poured holy water on meand scheduled me for an exorcism

I have pasts inside me I did not bury properly.

The womancarried herselflike Godworshipped her body.Even the devilwill pray for her forgivenessat the holy sight of her.

Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with voice trembling but start. Start and don’t stop. Start where you are, with what you have. Just... start.