Home > Author > Kimberly Jones
1 " If I right now decided that I wanted to play Monopoly with you, and for 400 rounds of playing Monopoly, I didn’t allow you to have any money, I didn’t allow you to have anything on the board, I didn’t allow for you to have anything, and then we played another 50 rounds of Monopoly and everything that you gained and you earned while you were playing that round of Monopoly was taken from you, that was Tulsa. That was Rosewood. Those are places where we built black economic wealth, where we were self-sufficient, where we owned our stores, where we owned our property, and they burned them to the ground. "
― Kimberly Jones
2 " Why are people that poor? Why are people that broke? Why are people that food insecure, that clothing insecure, that they feel like their only shot, that they are shooting their shot by walking through a broken glass window to get what they need? "
3 " You can’t win. The game is fixed. So when they say, “Why do you burn down the community? Why do you burn down your own neighborhood?” It’s not ours. We don’t own anything. We don’t own anything. [...] There’s a social contract that we all have, that if you steal, or if I steal, then the person who is the authority comes in and they fix the situation. But the person who fixes the situation is killing us. So the social contract is broken. And if the social contract is broken, why the f*** do I give a shit about burning the f***ing Football Hall of Fame, about burning a f***ing Target? "
4 " Cops!” I say. “It’s gonna be okay.” “Oh, now shit’s about to get real,” Lena says at the exact same time. "
― Kimberly Jones , I'm Not Dying with You Tonight
5 " We are only as good as the five people around us,” Marcus says, up in his pulpit now. “Mostly because we share the same value system as those five. So he with them, then he made a choice on livin’ like them. He can be an eagle, but if he choose to flock with pigeons, he gon’ have pigeon ways. "
6 " Auto-buy YA authors for me include Marie Marquardt, Rachael Stewart Allen, Lauren Morrill, Aisha Saeed, Nic Stone, Malinda Lo, A. S. King, Kristin Cashore, and Sabaa Tahir. I also love mysteries, so Karen McManus and Kara Thomas dominate my “to be read” pile. But the book/author that inspired me to write was The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. That book is so carefully, beautifully, and intricately constructed, it knocked me over. I finished it, and immediately flipped back to the first page to read again, and thought, “I want to learn to do something even half as captivating as this someday! "
7 " I’m sorry about what happened to your store. But you were there. It didn’t start out about looting or all that. Did them news people show up before, when they was having a peaceful protest? Was anybody listening when they tried to approach things in a civil manner? No. But when shops start burning down, here they come. I’m not defending looters, but you’re not even trying to understand. When you push people to their breaking point, and they ain’t got no power, they’ll find a way to take it. What’s so wrong with that? "
8 " I get in an elevator and people clutch they purses like I’m gonna steal from them. Why you think they do that, huh?” I open my mouth to respond, and I get stuck. I have seen that happen. I don’t want to admit this, but I do get nervous when a black guy gets in an elevator with me. Not because he’s black, though. Just when it’s a big guy and a small space. That’s all. But suddenly, I wonder. Suddenly, I’m not sure. "
9 " I can’t abandon my dad’s store.” “Abandon what? Look around you, fool. There ain’t nothin’ here left to protect!” “You’re right.” She sobs harder. “We have nothing left.” “This can all be replaced. Can’t replace us if someone comes in here and cracks our head open because they want a power tool or a hammer. Or if the cops run up in here and want to put my ass in jail because they think I’m the one takin’ things.” “You don’t get it,” she says, tears running down her face. “This place is all my dad has.” “I don’t understand? You got us sitting in a broken window like ducks at a carnival game lined up to get popped. Quit crying over a store! You so busy feeling sorry for yourself, we gonna get killed. "
10 " Cops showing up did not make things better. Hope Becky sees that now. Hell, I thought for a second Becky's terrible customer service set off a brawl. But leave it to the police to really aggravate folks. "
