Quotes from Jewell Parker Rhodes

Women hand sight down through the generations. Mother to daughter.

My grandmother and my upbringing filled me with the spirit of the church and the spirit of the faith brought by Africans to the new land during slavery.

My grandmother valued her Southern roots, folk culture, and healing.

While the books I read as a child lacked diversity in the strict sense, they didn't lack values. Reading, I didn't see me externally, but I felt me - my humanity.

In 'Bayou Magic,' I write about African goddess-mermaids who accompanied slaves to America.

A grandparent can be simply affirming. A grandparent has been there, done that child-raising stuff, and has the wisdom of experience. And so in some ways, they're free to love without the anxiety of being the actual parents. They're free to give.