Quotes by Mahogany L. Brown

“ They both squealed in the face of hope and the audacity for a black body to exist despite the system designed to dismember it. “

-Mahogany L. Brown-

They both squealed in the face of hope and the audacity for a black body to exist despite the system designed to dismember it.

Today, I am a black woman in a body of coal, I am always burning and no one knows my name.

Give me my mother’s bone structure and her gap tooth slaughter; give me her spine—Redbone got a spine for the world.

You ain't had freedom 'til you climb on bus 62 and head to the closest mall for a good seat at the girl fight.

It was the most American thing I ever felt—secure in my home and still dying from the heat of capitalism.

It is not a performance of Blackness; she is a Black woman.

Words are easy to fake but actions tell you everything you need to know about a person.

We understand we are the backbone despite the backhand.

You don't have to wait for others to claim you. You pick yourself.

Everybody wants to be a hero, but most of us are just misunderstood villains.

We praise their names and the hands that write. Praise the mouth that speaks,

Introducing Mahogany L. Brown

Mahogany L. Browne is an acclaimed American poet, writer, organizer, and educator known for her powerful contributions to literature and social justice. Born Lesley Tims in 1976 in Oakland, California, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1999 after a summer residency at Pratt Institute, where she later earned an MFA in writing and activism.

Browne has made significant marks in the poetry world, serving as the first-ever poet-in-residence at Lincoln Center in New York City starting in July 2021. She spent thirteen years as the Friday Night Slam curator and Poetry Program director at the Nuyorican Poets Café, fostering a vibrant spoken word community.