--- title: "4 Black women Quotes By Matthew Desmond" description: "4 Black women quotes by Matthew Desmond. Plus more from Matthew Desmond and more Black women sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/matthew-desmond-1529_black_if-incarceration-had-come-to-define-the_466745.jpg" --- > [If incarceration had come to define the lives of men from impoverished black neighborhoods, eviction was shaping the lives of women. Poor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/if-incarceration-had-come-to-define-the-lives-of-men-from/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/matthew-desmond-1529_black_if-incarceration-had-come-to-define-the_466745.jpg) > [“In a typical month, 3 in 4 people in Milwaukee eviction court were black. Of those, 3 in 4 were women. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/in-a-typical-month-3-in-4-people-in-milwaukee-eviction-court-were/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/matthew-desmond-1529_black-women_in-a-typical-month-3-in-4-people-in-milw_2630231.jpg) > [“Poor black men were locked up. Poor black women were locked out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/poor-black-men-were-locked-up-poor-black-women-were-locked-out/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/matthew-desmond-1529_black-women_poor-black-men-were-locked-up-poor-black_3004821.jpg) > [Just as incarceration has come to define the lives of low-income black men, eviction is defining the lives of low-income black women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/just-as-incarceration-has-come-to-define-the-lives-of-low-income/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5e/matthew-desmond-1529_black_just-as-incarceration-has-come-to-define_3113309.jpg) ## Other authors on Black women - [Maya Angelou 23 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/maya-angelou/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bell-hooks-16868.jpg) Bell Hooks 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/bell-hooks/) - [Stephanie Lahart 17 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/stephanie-lahart/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-audre-lorde-15604.jpg) Audre Lorde 12 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/audre-lorde/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-morgan-parker-69138.jpg) Morgan Parker 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/morgan-parker/) - [Malebo Sephodi 10 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/malebo-sephodi/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-toni-morrison-91730.jpg) Toni Morrison 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/toni-morrison/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ava-duvernay-15795.jpg) Ava DuVernay 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/ava-duvernay/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-patrisse-cullors-5946.jpg) Patrisse Cullors 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/patrisse-cullors/) - [Kola Boof 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/kola-boof/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-kimberle-williams-crenshaw-57296.jpg) Kimberle Williams Crenshaw 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/kimberle-williams-crenshaw/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alice-walker-11527.jpg) Alice Walker 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/alice-walker/) ## More by Matthew Desmond > [I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-don-t-think-we-can-fix-poverty-without-fixing-housing-and-i-don-t/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [If we continue to tolerate this level of poverty in our cities, and go along with eviction as commonplace in poor neighborhoods, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/if-we-continue-to-tolerate-this-level-of-poverty-in-our-cities-and-go/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [You see one eviction, and you're overcome, but then there's another one and another one and another one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/you-see-one-eviction-and-you-re-overcome-but-then-there-s-another-one/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [When I talk to booksellers, they tell me how hard it is to hand-sell some of my books because I do keep popping around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/when-i-talk-to-booksellers-they-tell-me-how-hard-it-is-to-hand-sell/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Housing being a top-order issue for cities is something that's not trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/housing-being-a-top-order-issue-for-cities-is-something-that-s-not/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [I think that we value fairness in this country. We value equal opportunity. Without a stable home, those ideals really fall apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-think-that-we-value-fairness-in-this-country-we-value-equal/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Exploitation. Now, there's a word that has been scrubbed out of the poverty debate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/exploitation-now-there-s-a-word-that-has-been-scrubbed-out-of-the/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [I think there are ways that graduate students can fact-check their work. I think there are ways that we can do this that don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-think-there-are-ways-that-graduate-students-can-fact-check-their/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Fire itself is very beautiful, and there's an attachment to fire that firefighters have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/fire-itself-is-very-beautiful-and-there-s-an-attachment-to-fire-that/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“Sherrena nodded reassuringly and said, almost to herself, “I guess I got to stop feeling sorry for these people because nobody is feeling sorry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/sherrena-nodded-reassuringly-and-said-almost-to-herself-i-guess-i-got/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Everywhere else, we are someone else, but at home, we remove our masks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/everywhere-else-we-are-someone-else-but-at-home-we-remove-our-masks/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [A community that sees so clearly its own disadvantage or its own hardships also has a harder time seeing its potential: its ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/a-community-that-sees-so-clearly-its-own-disadvantage-or-its-own/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“It was once said that the poor are 'constantly exposed to evidence of their own irrelevance.' Especially for poor African-American families - who live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/it-was-once-said-that-the-poor-are-constantly-exposed-to-evidence-of/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [A universal voucher program would change the face of poverty in this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/a-universal-voucher-program-would-change-the-face-of-poverty-in-this/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“Wildland firefighters do not enjoy the cultural prestige that structural firefighters do. They do not wax their fire engines and cruise down the local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/wildland-firefighters-do-not-enjoy-the-cultural-prestige-that/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/matthew-desmond/#itemlist", "name": "4 Black women Quotes By Matthew Desmond", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If incarceration had come to define the lives of men from impoverished black neighborhoods, eviction was shaping the lives of women. Poor black men were locked up. 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