Isaac's Song

“You become an agent of your own existence the minute you stop blaming others for what they did to you. Those who hurt us cannot heal us. That's our job.”

“Something about language makes a thing real. It makes thoughts tangible. You can lie to your thoughts, and they'll lie back to you-until you write them down. Then, before scrutinizing eyes, they won't lie any longer.”

“I realized I didn't want to get bogged down in a system rigged against me. I don't want to use my energy reacting to white people. Sometimes we gotta do it; I understand that. But usually it's a waste of time. Our rage doesn't change America. Not fundamentally. It makes America change the rules of the game. I didn't want to play anymore.”

“How black people survived bondage and emotional trauma by believing in the Invisible. When you consider it, they should've given up and died. Every single one of them. But for some reason, they didn't.”

“Nothing has ever happened to you that’s greater than your power to heal it.”

“If church had been nothing but music, I could've stayed.”

“Blaming others is merely an excuse to avoid activating your own personal strength. It’ll never work. No one cares to heal you as much as you need it because that’s your job.”

“Yet by exploring the lives of these precious brothers, I discovered that all men want the same things: validation, worth, purpose.”

“You can't treat people like shit and expect them not to act. Somebody's gonna rebel.”

“Yet freedom is never private. It will not hide for you. It will not disguise itself. It takes no refuge in safety. It's a declaration to the world of one's refusal to be bound. And that's the role of the writer-to force the reader's freedom- even when bondage is the preference.”

“We don’t create our baggage, Isaac, but we can unpack it. Everyone has agency, whether they use it or not. Nothing has ever happened to you that’s greater than your power to heal”

“Apologies don’t heal the wounded.”