I embraced joy as my birthright. Radical Black Joy is inherent as a human need and not some special trinket you get after you rise high enough on the socioeconomic ladder or unlock some special level of desirability or accomplishment. I decided I would claim and manifest every fucking thing someone told me I couldn't do-my birth mama, these raggedy niggas who used my body as practice, my baby daddies, the friends who kept me around to feel better about themselves, and the overall society that inundates us from birth with the message that certain folks are more deserving and valuable based on their bodies, complexion, race, gender expression, physical and mental capabilities, educational levels, and whatever other fuck shit is just arbitrarily made up and pushed into our minds and down our throats.

— You Are Your Best Thing by Tarana Burke, Brené Brown (Page 29)