I started writing because there's an absence of things I was familiar with or that I dreamed about. One of my senses of anger is related to this vacancy - a yearning I had as a teenager... and when I get ready to write, I think I'm trying to fill that. Ntozake Shange absenceangerdream share on social
I write for young girls of color, for girls who don't even exist yet, so that there is something there for them when they arrive. I can only change how they live, not how they think. Ntozake Shange arrivechangecolor Change image and share on social
If anything is life-changing, being the descendant of a slave is. Ntozake Shange changedescendantlife Change image and share on social
I'm a firm believer that language and how we use language determines how we act, and how we act then determines our lives and other people's lives. Ntozake Shange actbelieverdetermine Change image and share on social
Multiculturalism is a white people joke. Ntozake Shange jokemulticulturalismpeople Change image and share on social
Multiculturalism isn't about culture, it's about power. Ntozake Shange culturemulticulturalismpower Change image and share on social
White people use their literature to maintain culture. That's why you find references to Milton and Spencer and Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky in contemporary novels. Ntozake Shange contemporaryculturedostoyevsky Change image and share on social
