Quotes about Power

The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance.

It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.

Love heals. Heals and liberates. I use the word love , not meaning sentimentality, but a condition so strong that it may be that which holds the stars in their heavenly positions and that which causes the blood to flow orderly in our veins.

Intelligence always had a pornographic influence on me.

For what can stand against me, since one person, with God, constitutes a majority?

Whether we were in the mines of South Africa, or the liberal New York theater, nothing changed. Whites wanted everything. They thought they deserved everything. That they wanted to possess all the materials of the earth was in itself disturbing, but that they also wanted to control the souls and the pride of people was inexplicable.

For centuries we had probed their faces, the angles of their bodies, the sounds of their voices and even their odors. Often our survival had depended upon the accurate reading of a white man's chuckle or the disdainful wave of a white woman's hand. Whites, on the other hand, always knew that no serious penalty threatened them if they misunderstood blacks. Whites were safely isolated from our concerns.

No, you learned that you have power—power and determination. I love you and I am proud of you. With those two things, you can go anywhere and everywhere.

Control is an illusion. It doesn't work.

We're learning, through trial and error, to separate our will from God's will. We're learning that God's will is not offensive. We've learned that sometimes there's a difference between what others want us to do and God's will. We're also learning that God did not intend for us to be codependent, to be martyrs, to control or caretake. We're learning to trust ourselves. . . . and the power to carry that through.

but the power of being emotionally stuck is far greater than the power of reason."2

Let go of unrest. Let peace fill the void. We do not have to forfeit our power, our God-given personal power—or our peace—to do the work as we are called upon to do today. We will be given all the power we need to do what we are meant to do, when it is time. Let peace come first. Then proceed. The task will get done, naturally and on time. Today, I will get peaceful first, and let my work and life emerge from that base. Being