Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Contexthooks on choosing love as a form of resistance.
Their StoryWriter and scholar (born Gloria Jean Watkins) whose work on love, race, class and feminism reached far beyond academia. She wrote under a lowercase pen name, borrowed from her great-grandmother, to keep the focus on the ideas rather than herself.'All About Love' and 'Teaching to Transgress' are the usual entry points.See Their Full Story
Contexthooks on love as something practised and chosen, not just felt.
Their StoryWriter and scholar (born Gloria Jean Watkins) whose work on love, race, class and feminism reached far beyond academia. She wrote under a lowercase pen name, borrowed from her great-grandmother, to keep the focus on the ideas rather than herself.'All About Love' and 'Teaching to Transgress' are the usual entry points.See Their Full Story
Contexthooks on reading as escape and liberation, from a childhood where books were both refuge and rebellion.
Their StoryWriter and scholar (born Gloria Jean Watkins) whose work on love, race, class and feminism reached far beyond academia. She wrote under a lowercase pen name, borrowed from her great-grandmother, to keep the focus on the ideas rather than herself.'All About Love' and 'Teaching to Transgress' are the usual entry points.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextA short version of Kendi's central argument about racism as action, not label.Read More: Black Literature
Their StoryHistorian and author of 'How to Be an Antiracist' and 'Stamped from the Beginning', which won the National Book Award. He founded the Center for Antiracist Research, first at American University and later at Boston University.'How to Be an Antiracist' is the direct primary source for his own framing.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextA widely shared line on the difference between acceptance and action.Read More: Black Activism
Their StoryScholar and activist whose work on race, gender and the prison system has shaped decades of organising. Briefly jailed and tried in the early 1970s after guns registered in her name were used in a courtroom takeover, she was acquitted and went on to a long academic and activist career arguing for the abolition of prisons and policing.Her memoir and lectures, widely available online, are the fullest primary sources.See Their Full Story
ContextWright speaking to young people about the abuse he suffered as a child, and about carrying that weight silently for decades before getting help.
ContextFrom the same UN address as her more famous 'one child, one pen' line.
Their StoryPakistani education activist who campaigned for girls' schooling under Taliban rule, survived being shot in 2012, and became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.Her UN address and 'I Am Malala' are well-documented primary sources.See Their Full Story
“ I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there, I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there, I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. ”
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextWalker's own summary of her path from field labour to building a business empire.
Their StoryBorn Sarah Breedlove to formerly enslaved parents in Louisiana in 1867, she built a line of hair care products for Black women into a business empire, becoming widely regarded as the first self-made female millionaire in America. She employed thousands of Black women as sales agents.Biographies by her great-great-granddaughter A'Lelia Bundles are the fullest primary-adjacent sources.See Their Full Story
“ Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man. And I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. ”
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextBiles on taking risks, from a gymnast who reshaped her sport and spoke openly about athletes' mental health.Read More: Women in Sport
Their StoryAmerican gymnast and the most decorated gymnast in world championship history. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics she withdrew from several events, citing her mental health and a disorientation known as 'the twisties', and returned to compete at the Paris 2024 Games.Her post-Tokyo and Paris interviews are the clearest primary sources for her own framing.See Their Full Story
ContextAdichie's own working definition of the word, from her widely shared TEDx talk.Read More: Black Literature
Their StoryNigerian novelist and essayist whose books, including 'Half of a Yellow Sun' and 'Americanah', are read worldwide. Her TEDx talk 'The Danger of a Single Story' and essay 'We Should All Be Feminists' brought her ideas to an audience well beyond literary fiction.'We Should All Be Feminists' is a short, direct entry point before the novels.See Their Full Story
