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Readers need to stop assuming characters are white if race isn't explicitly defined.

Roxane Gay

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Roxane Gay
Age: 50
Born: 1974
Born: October 15
Essayist
Journalist
Novelist
Scrabble Player
Writer
Omaha
Nebraska
Needs
Defined
Characters
Reader
Stop
Race
White
Explicitly
Character
Readers
Need
Assuming

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Some women being empowered does not prove the patriarchy is dead. It proves that some of us are lucky.
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We don't all have to believe in the same feminism. Feminism can be pluralistic so long as we respect the different feminisms we carry with us, so long as we give enough of a damn to try to minimize the fractures among us. Feminism will better succeed with collective effort, but feminist success can also rise out of personal conduct.
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If I cannot rest and relax, all the work I do is for naught.
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What is it like to be connected to someone you can never get away from, for better or worse? I love trying to answer that question.
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The actual act of writing brings me such pleasure - to tell stories, to engage in cultural criticism, to reflect, to question, all of it is invigorating.
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Violence is not the answer but neither is peace.
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I love writing fiction because I can totally lose myself and I get to make up the rules of the world that I'm writing.
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Oftentimes, when a woman demands accountability, respect, or consideration, she is crazy or nagging or whatever.
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I am fine with my books being categorized as African-American literature but I hope they are also considered Haitian-American literature and American literature. All of these things are part of who I am and what I write.
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Violence is a common part of far too many women's lives.
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My fiction is a very accurate reflection of the world we live in. Certainly, in some stories, that reflection is amplified but America elected a man who enjoys grabbing women by their pussies.
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Books are often far more than just books.
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I love Twitter. It doesn't keep me from writing and I think it's a really convenient scapegoat when the truth is that the real issue is self-control. I am totally fine admitting i have none. I'm not going to blame Twitter for affecting my writing. And also, Twitter doesn't affect my writing.
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When I write on Twitter, I do other things: I'm working, grading, or reading, and I'm procrastinating, and I'll pop on Twitter and be like, Hey, what's up? Yogurt's delicious.
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Most of my favorite tweets go completely ignored but most of my favorite tweets are probably really lame or inside jokes between me and my [redacted]. See what I did there?
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Just write and love what you're writing. And if you're not loving what you're writing, take a look at why and fix that.
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You don't necessarily have to do anything once you acknowledge your privilege. You don't have to apologize for it. You need to understand the extent of your privilege, the consequences of your privilege, and remain aware that people who are different from you move through and experience the world in ways you might never know anything about.
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When you can’t find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.
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People do terrible things all the time, but we don’t regularly disown our humanity. We disavow the terrible things.
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I was called a feminist, and what I heard was, 'You are an angry, sex-hating, man-hating victim lady person.' This caricature is how feminists have been warped by the people who fear feminism most, the same people who have the most to lose when feminism succeeds.
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