Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape. - bell hooks

When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as an escape.

The fierce willingness to repudiate domination in a holistic manner is the starting point for progressive cultural revolution.

A shift in class values occurs in black life when integration comes and with it the idea that money is the primary marker of individual success, not how one acquires money. Adopting that worldview changed the dynamics of work in black communities. Black men who could show they had money (no matter how they acquired it) could be among the powerful. It was this thinking that allowed hustlers in black communities to be seen as just as hardworking as their Wall Street counterparts.

Commitment to truth telling lays the groundwork for the openness and honesty that is the heartbeat of love. When we see ourselves as we truly are and accept ourselves, we build the necessary foundation for self-love.