'If a woman is worth remembering,' said my grandmother, 'there is no need to have her name carved in letters.' (p165) - Edwidge Danticat

in terms of being immigrants, especially from a place like Haiti, when we see — you know, we see the cholera, we see the earthquake. I think people forget that there’s also this wonderful and powerful history of revolt, of resilience, of resistance, and this wonderful art that’s followed in its wake that has this great beauty to offer to the world.

...she was like a starfish, that she constantly needed to have a piece of her break off and walk away in order for her to become something new. (p143)

One of the advantages of being an immigrant is that two very different countries are forced to merge within you. The language you were born speaking and the one you will probably die speaking have no choice but to find a common place in your brain and regularly merge there. So too with catastrophes and disasters, which inevitably force you to rethink facile allegiances. (Chapter 8, p 112)