Henry Holt

“The Black girl was never labeled as ‘hot’ or a catch. Sometimes, the Black girl wasn’t even on-screen. And when she was, she wasn’t the star, she wasn’t painted as desirable. I learned it but I didn’t know I was learning it. None of us did.”
― Joel Leon, Everything and Nothing at Once: A Black Man's Reimagined Soundtrack for the Future

“Bet ya’ moms woulda twerked for MLK if he came down 138th and the Grand Concourse.”
― Joel Leon, Everything and Nothing at Once: A Black Man's Reimagined Soundtrack for the Future

“When people thought of mothers, they smelled cookies baking and chocolate melting. But actual mothers got shit for giving their kids too much sugar. When people thought of mothers, they thought soft and warm and cuddly. But actual mothers went to great lengths to eradicate their soft warm cuddly bits. When people thought of mothers, they thought of mama bears and cheerleaders–fierce love and unconditional support–but actual mothers were accused of coddling and helicoptering.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“It is all of those things and none of those things. Blackness is not a monolith—it is as nuanced, as different, and as bold as our hairstyles, our fashion choices, and our vernacular. It is the space between a comma and a bar, a breath taken or breaths strangled out of us.”
― Joel Leon, Everything and Nothing at Once: A Black Man's Reimagined Soundtrack for the Future