One of the elements in visionary force for me is anger-anger at injustice, not just anger that you specifically did not get what you wanted, but ange… - Jewelle Gomez

Another element I feel contributes to seeing ourselves as a visionary force is our capacity for joy...We must continue to see that potential for joy as we become old and jaded. And that's one of the things that conferences like this can do: make you feel old and jaded.

if they can start defining us, why shouldn't we define ourselves? It is a feminist vision that helped bring us here today as lesbian and writers and editors and publishers-we must not forget that. It was all the movements that came before the lesbian-feminist move ment that brought us here today. And we should not forget that. And not only should we not forget it; we should learn to use it. It's one thing to just simply quote it and say, "Yes, I know that," but what is it that you learned? What is it that you do differently now? Because you understand the oppression of women in this society and the exclusion of women and people of color and poor people from this society. What is it that you learned that makes you do things differently?

Being bitter does not help me. Being bitter just gives me frown lines