Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education QUOTES

1 " The nigger is America's greatest asset and its biggest fear "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

2 " Our struggle has inspired oppressed people the world over, because if former slaves can make the most powerful nation face itself, there's a chance for everyone else. In a twist, our rage becomes hope for others. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

3 " Anger is what makes our struggle visible, and our struggle is what exposes the hypocrisy of a nation that fashions itself a moral leader. To rise against the narrative and expose the lie gives opportunity to those whose identity depends on the lie to question and, hopefully, change. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

4 " We shouldn't be seeking the respect of an unjust system that will not respect us on the basis of our humanity alone. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

5 " Anger is what makes our struggle visible, and our struggle is what exposes they hypocrisy of a nation that fashions itself a moral leader. To rise against the narrative and expose the lie gives opportunity to those whose identity depends on the lie to question and, hopefully, change. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

6 " But the anger has not only drawn attention to injustice; it has driven people to action, sparking movements and spurring them forward. At the very least, the public expression of black rage has allowed communities and people who have felt isolated in their own anger to know that they are not alone. Anger is what makes our struggle visible. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

7 " He did everything. He studied hard. He went to Harvard. He got married. He had children. He worked. He dreamed big. He pulled his bootstraps all the way up from his humble beginnings to the presidency. He lived the American Dream. And he was called an African Witch Doctor. People asked for his birth certificate. A congressman shouted at him "YOU LIE!" He faced the most recalcitrant Republican Congress ever that was elected by a constituency that wanted to "take the country back."If a black man can be elected as guardian of the American empire, do exactly that, and still not be shielded from racism, what hope is supposed to be left? "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

8 " And the more the image of black men is connected to everything wrong with the world, the easier it is to justify killing us. Racism comes to be seen as a natural reaction to the existence of black monsters. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

9 " What would we happen if we reframed the way we understand black male life in a way that took mental health seriously? If we looked outside and didn't see ruthless gangbangers, but teenage boys left hopeless and giving themselves suicide missions. If instead of chastising young men for fighting over sneakers we asked why they felt worthless and unseen without them. If we didn't label them junkies, but rather recognized their need for affirmation. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

10 " To my Newly Forming Black Radical mind, women -- more specifically black women -- had a way of existing without being present. It's a natural result of consuming history and culture through the fables of masculine triumph. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

11 " One of the privileges of not being a part of a marginalized group is believing you can set your own benchmarks for bigotry. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

12 " We make a grave mistake every time we invoke the history of oppression to diminish the reality of racism's present. Progress is real, but the narrative of progress seduces us into inaction. If we believe, simply, that it gets better, there is no incentive to do the work to ensure that it does. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

13 " someone, some industry, is always ready and waiting to exploit us. It appears innocent enough at first. They even convince us that the arrangement is beneficial for everyone involved. But once you realize what’s happening, that they aren’t sacrificing nearly as much as you are but somehow receiving a larger portion of the spoils, and you confront them about it, they’ll try to convince you that you’re crazy. Where they once sold you on the relationship with promises of wealth, they now threaten you with poverty. And they’re willing to employ depraved measures in order show you just how bloody life is without them. When you recognize this, you have to "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

14 " And as the rest of the world watches, we still try to learn how to see ourselves. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

15 " One of the more pernicious effects of racism on the psyche is the constant questioning of one’s worth and purpose. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

16 " Effects of racism on the psyche is the constant questioning of one’s worth and purpose. It can be almost as debilitating as death. Almost...American racism will take some of our lives while holding others of us up as exemplars of success providing the illusion that there is an escape.

We do a disservice to our martyrs by imposing perfection upon them. We do a greater disservice to ourselves, the survivors and potential tokens, by not honestly reckoning with who our martyrs were and who they could have been. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

17 " Everything I read, listened to, and learned, validated my right to existence as a Black man in America but only within the confines of a patriarchal definition of masculine identity. What went unquestioned were the ways my newfound sense of Black manhood contributed to the ongoing marginalization of my mother, her twin sister, my grandmother, my high school guidance counselor, and more than half of the student population on Hampton University’s campus. I began to see myself, but only by refusing to see black women. The centrality of the Black male experience and the discourse of racist oppression has been passed down from generation to generation through our politics and culture. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

18 " I had athletes who, with much to lose, would put their visibility to use for the liberation of Black people. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

19 " What would happen if we reframed the way we understand Black male life in a way that took mental health seriously? If we looked outside and didn’t see ruthless gang bangers but teenage boys left hopeless and giving themselves suicide missions. If instead of chastising young men for fighting over sneakers we asked why they feel worthless and unseen without them? If we didn’t label them junkies but rather recognized their need for affirmation. If we held our boys close when they cried instead of turning them away to face the frustration, pain, and sadness like a man. If we believed Black boys were worthy of second chances that didn’t involve prison cells. What if? We might start to worry. Then, we might start to heal. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

20 " A call to detach ourselves from the myth that the only and best way to raise a child depends on the presence of a man we call a father. It’s also a call to reexamine what we expect from fathers, present or not. What’s imagined is Cliff Huxtable trading wit and canned wisdom with his children before traipsing off to a job that enables to provide financially and then coming home to hand out a healthy dose of necessary discipline to keep the children well-behaved. What’s real is that having a father in the home increases the likelihood for abuse for both the spouse and children. What’s real are fathers who are broken and showing up to fill a role that they themselves are struggling to understand. We have spent so much time valorizing the mere existence of fathers we haven’t discussed what type of fathers they will be. We haven’t shown any concern for whether or not these fathers show up as full, healthy human beings. "

― , Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education