Quote by Zora Neale Hurston: “I do not weep at the world—I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.”

This powerful statement expresses a refusal to dwell in sorrow or victimhood. Instead of complaining about life's difficulties, the speaker chooses to actively prepare and empower themselves to tackle challenges head-on and make their own opportunities.

From her essay *How It Feels to Be Colored Me*, published during the height of the Harlem Renaissance. This essay articulated her unique perspective on race and identity, rejecting victimhood.

American novelist, anthropologist, and folklorist who documented African American folklore and culture in the rural South and Caribbean during the 1930s and 1940s. Her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered a masterwork of twentieth-century American literature.