Quote by Toni Morrison: “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”

Those with power decide what words mean and who gets to be described in what terms. If you accept someone else's definition of who you are, you are already operating within their framework. Claiming the right to define yourself is a fundamental act of self-determination.

Morrison wrote this in Beloved, published in 1987, her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the psychological aftermath of slavery. The novel was written during the Reagan era, a period when debates about civil rights, affirmative action, and whose history was taught in schools were intensifying in the United States.

American novelist, editor, and professor who was the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded in 1993. Her novels, including Beloved and Song of Solomon, explore the legacies of slavery and Black identity in America with extraordinary depth.