“The ‘protect Black women’ rallying call should not come with qualifiers. Supporting Black women goes beyond supporting only ‘respectable’ Black women, or famous Black women, or cis Black women, nor should Black women have to fit a particular mold of moral goodness to deserve to be protected from experiencing patriarchal violence—or to have their experiences validated and affirmed when they do share.” -Justice Namaste writing for Jezebel

“22.

…All I know is if my pen hovers over the page long enough because I am listening to the world, hearing what is revealed, what is felt and held because I am still here—because I am travelling the hard-edged roads and meanings of this place, things will eventually announce themselves. In all that living there is war, there is madness, there is music. In that music I find poetry. Whether or not I write it down is, of course, a matter of choice. If I write it down be sure that I make something of silence.” -“53 Acts of Living” Canisia Lubrin

“The possessive investment in whiteness can’t be rectified by learning ‘how to be more antiracist.’ It requires a radical divestment in the project of whiteness and a redistribution of wealth and resources. It requires abolition, the abolition of the carceral world, the abolition of capitalism.” -Saidiya Hartman interviewed for ArtForum

“Later in the album, he conflates Black Lives Matter protests with his supposed victimization, demanding that Black people fight for his reputation—effectively usurping a liberation movement while shirking all responsibility for his actions. The closer, “Life,” finds him leaning into religion and warped race theory that conveniently upholds patriarchy— masking his transgressions with feigned, righteous, uplifting messaging. Daystar stands as an apologia, not an apology, couched in a welter of nonsensical social commentary and bitter one-liners aimed against celebrities, systems, and the mere thought of accountability.” -Ivie Ani for GQ