Top Quotes: “You Can’t Touch My Hair” -Phoebe Robinson

“I assumed that if I had better hair, I would finally get my first boyfriend. That people would think I was pretty. The fact that I did not look like her [another girl at school] + I didn’t have her good hair = I must not have been pretty. Damn. The math we tell ourselves sometimes.”

“I was only six years old when my mom started straightening my hair. Every week, Mama Robinson would place a hot comb on the stove. Once the comb was hot like a pancake griddle, she’d get to work. Every once in a while, I’d wince, and she’d go, ‘You have to sit still so you don’t get burned.’”

“The amount of time, effort, and money that is spent on black hair is not because of superficiality; it’s because black women know that the quality of their life and how others will treat them is riding on the presentation of their hair. Black women sporting natural hair deal with more bullshit.”

“Because [racial] mistreatment is a widespread issue, shopping is a somewhat stressful experience for me and I’m sure many POCs feel the same way. Whenever I go shopping, I’m hyperaware that I’m black, and thereby I’m hyperaware of how employees will read my behavior. When I dress down, I’ll get shittier service, which explains why, on occasion, I’ve been known for being one bow tie away from looking like Louis Farrakhan when I step into high-end stores. Or it’s as simple as when I go to a convenience store with a bottle of water already in my possession, I’ll immediately find an employee or security guard and make eye contact while taking a swig, so they know I didn’t steal the bottle.”

“If someone is going to be racist toward you, burden them. Place upon their racist little shoulders all the reasons their trifling comments will not be tolerated.”

“When you are a person of color in this country, you learn early on that you cannot fall apart every time something racially charged happens to you. You have to be resilient or you won’t survive.”

“[My boss] cared more about someone thinking he’s racist as opposed to correcting the behavior that would lead someone to feel that way.”