Bebe Moore Campbell Quotes & Sayings

When we finally stop asking America to love us and begin to love ourselves, we will prosper as a people. — Bebe Moore Campbell

To me, there's no point in writing merely to entertain. — Bebe Moore Campbell

His eyesight wasn't as keen as it had been, but he knew a changing mind when he saw it. — Bebe Moore Campbell

The important thing is not to point a finger at flaws but to attempt to correct them! — Bebe Moore Campbell

That's what a man is supposed to do for his wife. Listen, if a nigger didn't get lynched every now and then, well, there's just no telling what they'd do to us."
"Who?" Lily asked.
"Why, honey, the niggers and our husbands both. I don't care what color they are; men build up steam. And they gotta let it out somewhere. Colored men. White men. They both crazy. Honey, the point is you gotta look at it this way: A whole lotta women can't, "I got a man who'll kill for me." — Bebe Moore Campbell

As I grow older part of my emotional survival plan must be to actively seek inspiration instead of passively waiting for it to find me. — Bebe Moore Campbell

Discipline is the servant of inspiration. — Bebe Moore Campbell

Forgiveness is the key to the recovery of the soul. — Bebe Moore Campbell

You live your life between your ears. — Bebe Moore Campbell

The music was as much a gift as sunshine, as rain, as any blessing ever prayed for. — Bebe Moore Campbell

The shame is in not improving when you have the opportunity! — Bebe Moore Campbell

A child's death isn't always necessary for a mother to grieve. — Bebe Moore Campbell

People of color, particularly African Americans, feel the stigma more keenly. In a race-conscious society, some don't want to be perceived as having yet another deficit. — Bebe Moore Campbell

I had an agent who spent eight years - eight years! - trying to sell my stories. She sold other people's work; she just didn't sell mine. — Bebe Moore Campbell

My color is my joy and not my burden... — Bebe Moore Campbell

I have to entertain, because if I don't entertain you, you're not going to continue reading. But if I'm not out to enlighten, or change your mind about something, or change your behavior, then I really don't want to take the journey. — Bebe Moore Campbell

In all his imaginings, he had never envisioned her crying. He knew that her son had died, but he'd never expected that her pain might be anything he could recognize, almost as though he believed that Negroes had their own special kind of grieving ritual, another language, something other than tears they used to express their sadness. — Bebe Moore Campbell

Knowing who you are begins in the mind. — Bebe Moore Campbell

African-Americans know about racism, but I don't think we really know the causes. I decided it's first of all a family problem. — Bebe Moore Campbell

Once my loved one accepted the diagnosis, healing began for the entire family, but it took too long. It took years. Can't we, as a nation, begin to speed up that process? We need a national campaign to destigmatize mental illness, especially one targeted toward African Americans. The message must go on billboards and in radio and TV public service announcements. It must be preached from pulpits and discussed in community forums. It's not shameful to have a mental illness. Get treatment. Recovery is possible. — Bebe Moore Campbell

Race, redemption and healing - that's my thing. — Bebe Moore Campbell

I would get up at 3 in the morning and write. Or sometimes I would write at midnight. Or I would write when my child napped. It wasn't a burden. I was so enthused about what I was doing at the time that I really didn't mind. — Bebe Moore Campbell