Women Born In The 1940s

"I think my main interests are to enlarge the horizon of the reader, but also to delight, to entertain and to educate. I would be thrilled if my language moves the reader into becoming one with the rhythm of my text...That's my purpose, to make the rhythm right and to have the reader taken up into the rhythm."

"Different works emerge differently and I pay no real attention to the external process. Internally I think there is an identifiable process which can be captured by one word: obsession. The thought, the line, the image, the one word: whatever is the germ of that particular poem stays and stays until it reaches its needed form on the page."

"My work explores the passing of time and the tension between the human longing for reassuring repetition and — at the same time — change. I am particularly interested in our human ability to see what we expect to see, to misinterpret, to see a partial picture as the whole, to disregard incremental change, or to completely overlook the significant."

"In writing (poetry, fiction, plays, etc.) I am aware of functioning as an Indian woman from the Caribbean in dialogue with the world. The world may choose to ignore that dialogue; all the same this is what I am doing. And at a primal level, I and my kind (Indo-Caribbean women) are prohibited by the full weight of patriarchal law and authority from having dialogue with the world outside the home."

"A writer as necessary as Ramabai Espinet should be treasured by us for her unique voice and the unique world she shares with us."

"Weaving has been the thread that has held my life together for more than fifty years. One has to fill the minutes, hours, days and years that are given to you with something, and it seems that weaving chose me. In essence, I see my life as the latest iteration in the long line of weavers that stretch back beyond recorded history. I feel blessed to be in this lineage."

"Opening our mouths and saying our words, breaking the cycle of the "unknowable," seems to me right now an essential tool for our survival, on our own terms, and for that of our daughters and granddaughters. We can only become stronger as we build upon each other's experiences and strengthen that repository of woman-knowledge (also community-knowledge) of which we are the rightful inheritors."

"I’ve tried to live a holistic life, honoring my general curiosity, acknowledging the wonderful diversity of human societies while noting the similarities of our species. I didn’t intend to be a weaver; it began as a tenuous thread, but it became my lifeline. It didn’t lead to a concise understanding of the world or even of the nature of weaving itself, but unfolded into ever-evolving questions about the mechanism of the process, what it has been, can be, and what could I make of it."

"References to weaving abound in literature throughout human history. The process of weaving takes hundreds of individual threads, and combines them into a cohesive plane. It is the perfect metaphor for how we build our lives from multiple identities and interests into a singular personality. It is also a good metaphor for interconnectedness of any sort—family, community, governance. Weaving doesn’t always yield narratives, but in my work, the resulting combination of images and words reveal a propensity towards storytelling. Rooted in the physical making of the work, I honor the skill that has developed in my hands from years of weaving; and I listen for the insights that arise from my hands to my head, and vice versa."

"Almost from the start, I tried to map my mental activities in a series of woven collages. Just as thoughts loop, certain imagery is found again and again—my handwritten calculations for converting images into physical threads, repetitive counting, diagrams, and glimpses of nature are some of the phenomena that fill my head and these canvases. Over the years my work has seesawed between identifiable narratives and abstract imagery; my quest to understand spiritual systems has entered the weavings in recognized and abstract symbols; and I never shied away from beauty."

"I consider all work as studies, just one step on the path from here to there—and who knows where there is going to end up being. However, with time, the nature of weaving itself became more prominent in my work. So you find notations about how they are made, diagrams of weave drafts, and recordings of their materials. This also became helpful in my teaching. Instead of looking for written notes on the work, I could just refer to the work itself."

"Who is the female artist functioning in a community such as ours? She speaks but her speaking drives her into a place of otherness when she speaks her truth. She is an outsider. She is subject to unbearable strain, from within and without, and she functions largely without supports. Now more Indo-Caribbean women are beginning to speak "themselves." There are poets such as Mahadai Das, Shana Yardan, Niala Maharaj, Asha Radjkoemar, Chitra Gajadin. They are writing themselves out of the family walls-breaking them down so that they can stare fully, unveiled, at the world outside. The act of writing calls for breaking faith with service-family service. Beginning the difficult task of consolidating a self-outside of family servitude."

"To believe in yourself and know who you are when others don't believe in you is the greatest accomplishment; to never give up, to never quit, to have faith and stand your ground. Never change who you are. Love yourself because you have already made it and you are... Somebody."

"I didn’t intend to be a weaver; it began as a tenuous thread, but it became my lifeline. It didn’t lead to a concise understanding of the world or even of the nature of weaving itself, but unfolded into ever-evolving questions about the mechanism of the process, what it has been, can be, and what could I make of it."

"I remember sewing nighties for them when they were small and later washing and drying the army uniforms when the boys came home for the weekend. I still see myself hanging those uniforms over heaters to dry"

"Life is a choice"

"I was a miserable newly wed and often pondered about where I should be travelling to, wondering what I was doing on a farm. I decided to burn my diaries of my time as Miss World, because I did not want to live in the past anymore"

"One of my fondest memories was in Austria. I was called out to the balcony of the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. The full moon shone over the trees in the vast garden and a white carriage appeared. Ballerinas stepped out of the carriage and performed a magnificent ballet in the garden"

"What really brought me down to earth, was when I lost my first child"

"It was incredibly stressful, because I was always terrified that I would forget what I wanted to say"

"Life has changed enormously over the past 11 years. There are times when we get depressed. We have to just come to terms with it"

"I am a gatherer. If I like someone, I invite them to my home"

"There was a collision on the field resulting in his horse stumbling and then falling on top of him. Nicholas sustained a brain stem injury and while he can hear and understand everything and his brain is fully functional, communication is difficult"

"Let us look within ourselves and utilize especially the potentials within our youth. They graduate in hundreds every year. We must figure out a way to become reliant on them. My hope and wish is that we find ways to develop incubator-centers where young graduates from all schools can spend time and serve our people."

"Let me take a few minutes to stress why we are here in offering this heartfelt goodwill message. Ndi banyi, taa bug boo. We have come a long way since the days of the Missionaries. Nsukka boasted of many scholars and philanthropists that emerged during that era. Fast forward; we have fought a civil war, rebuilt Nigeria and the University of Nigeria remains in our back-yard. When we take stock, we cannot say we didn’t do okay. But in the grand scheme of things, more could be done."

"It is the desire of this research group to fast track development through human and infrastructural capacity building, consequently reducing the gap between the developed and the emerging economies."

"In my mind, I need to represent and not necessarily be loud as in yelling, but loud in my excitement, loud in my demeanor."

"It gives me great pleasure to be here today with my most esteemed brethren from far and near. I have not seen many of you for some time now. So, this event, being the first, calls for many more. It is my fervent belief that we can live up to that pledge."

"Although we are making little progress with the little or no facilities at our disposal, we strongly believe that given the right tools we will certainly perform better."

"It costs less than getting your hair done three times a year. And if you don't have the surgery, then you're asking to die."

"Being poor shouldn’t hold you back either – when I talk to disadvantaged school kids about poverty, I tell them that the label of “poor” is a tactical assault of naming and shaming."

"To me, it was home and a place of happy memories, and I grew up believing I was rich."

"My parents believed that with enough education, I could own the world,"

"When I began my residency training at New York University, I had no idea that I was the first and only African-Americans ophthalmology resident. I did not know, or even care! But I did know that my superior grades, scores and credentials had earned me a coveted spot in a highly competitive residency, and that was awesome. I was happy and excited that I was about to capture my dream and become a great ophthalmologist by training in one of the most prestigious programs in the USA."

"The biggest challenge I overcame in my career was wanting to do research, but not having the funding or a lab to do it in. When I encountered discrimination, I stayed focused on my goal and worked to outsmart the racism I faced – with ingenuity, rather than wasting my time and energy complaining about it."

""Hater-ation, segregation, racism, that’s the noise — you have to ignore that and keep your eyes focused on the"

"I hope that through my past legacy and future advocacy, that the current and future generations of young scientists will not experience the hurtful wounds of discrimination of any kind."

"If you see a problem and don’t seek a solution, you have no right to complain,"

"My entire breast was removed in a modified radical mastectomy, and I didn’t bother with reconstructive surgery,"

"“When I was offered an office not equivalent to that of my male colleagues, I could’ve started marching. But I felt it was more important to focus on the prize.”"

"“Philosophically, I like to think that my greatest accomplishment has to be those moments when I’ve helped someone regain eyesight, when I remove the patient’s patch and he starts with the big E and goes all the way down to the 20/20 line.”"

"“Service to the underserved was a natural evolution of my life from my Harlem roots,”"

"Prosthesis products are widely available in terms of being able to dress fashionably. I have one for swimming, one for strapless dresses, and regular bras for other wear."

"Taking the high road may be arduous and long, but it will lead to justice and triumph."

"Although I chose a path in cornea and cataract surgery for my specialization, I could not help but be impacted by my observations of the prevalence of blindness among African Americans"

"Do not allow your mind to be imprisoned by majority thinking. Remember that the limits of science are not the limits of imagination."

"I wasn’t seeking to be first. I was just doing my thing, and I wanted to serve humanity along the way—to give the gift of sight."

"Eyesight is a basic human right"

"I’ve achieved so much in my career, and it’s important to me that I pass on the torch and help to inspire others to get involved in science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM) – whatever their backgrounds or circumstances."

"One cannot go through life without facing obstacles of various types. We have to remain focused, barrel over the obstacles, see the light at the end of the tunnel, and by the Grace of God, keep moving."