• There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere (North and South) and 8 Africans.
• 70 would be non-white; 30 white.
• 70 would be non-Christian; 30 Christian.
• 50 percent of the entire world wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people. All 6 would be citizens of the United States.
• 70 would be unable to read.
• 50 would suffer from malnutrition.
• 80 would live in sub-standard housing.
• Only 1 would have a college education.

When one considers our world from such an incredibly compressed perspective, the need for both tolerance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent.

~ Forrest Felling

photo: Steinem in1972 (Wikimedia Commons)

If you have a person enslaved, the first thing you must do is to convince yourself that the person is subhuman — and won’t mind the enslavement. The second thing you must do is convince your allies that the person is subhuman so that you have some support. But the third and the unkindest cut of all is to convince that person that he, she, is not quite a first-class citizen. When the complete job has been done, the initiator can go back years later and ask, “Why don’t you people like yourselves more?” You see? It’s been true for women, it’s been true for immigrants, it’s been true for Asians, it’s been true for Spanish-speaking people. So now we have to undo. We know this — and we have to undo these lessons which have been learned by all of us. And so it will be no small matter. But we can undo it. We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

Maya Angelou, accomplished poet, writer, activist and teacher

Next time, ask: What’s the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people will yell at you. They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it’s personal. And the world won’t end. And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don’t miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And you will still flirt and paint your nails, dress up and party, because, as I think Emma Goldman said, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” And at last you’ll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.
~ Naomi Wolf

Via.

I was gravely warned by some of my female acquaintances that no woman could expect to be regarded as a lady after she had written a book.

Lydia Maria Child (February 11, 1802 – October 20, 1880) – American abolitionist, women’s rights activist, Indian rights activist, novelist, journalist and Unitarian

1. “TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult
8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler
9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker
10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier

As a writer, I can think of few greater honors than to make it to this list. Over the years, the upper echelons of filth have brimmed with genius.

Banned: Alice Walker. Harper Lee. Toni Morrison. Shirley Jackson. Joyce Carol Oates. Uppity Rib.

A girl can dream.