--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That's critical to me, the community…" description: "\"That's critical to me, the community. When I was 12 years old, I had a mental breakdown; I went berserk for a long time. I felt rejection from the whit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/cecil-williams-31081_berserk_that-s-critical-to-me-the-community-when_2487453.jpg" --- # That's critical to me, the community. When I was 12 years… ![“That's critical to me, the community. When I was 12 years old, I had a mental breakdown; I went berserk for a long time. I felt rejection from the white community. Couldn't understand why the pigmentation of my skin kept me from doing. Everybody always told me "You're going to be something." And…” quote by Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/cecil-williams-31081_berserk_that-s-critical-to-me-the-community-when_2487453.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/cecil-williams-31081_berserk_that-s-critical-to-me-the-community-when_2487453.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/cecil-williams-31081_berserk_that-s-critical-to-me-the-community-when_2487453.jpg) > “That's critical to me, the community. When I was 12 years old, I had a mental breakdown; I went berserk for a long time. I felt rejection from the white community. Couldn't understand why the pigmentation of my skin kept me from doing. Everybody always told me "You're going to be something." And of course, I began to raise questions about why it is that white folks treat us the way they do. The breakdown was very vivid. I just all of a sudden felt like I had been overcome by a train.” [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes a painful personal experience of racial rejection and its lasting impact on identity and community. **In simple terms:** Racial rejection caused deep emotional trauma. Key Takeaway Address and heal racial trauma. Themes identity race mental health community Mood somber hopeful Type personal social When to use this quote - counseling - activism - education programs Key Concepts systemic racism psychological impact Questions to Reflect On - How can communities support those facing racial trauma? - What steps foster genuine inclusion? A Different Perspective Healing requires broader societal change, not only personal coping. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Berserk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/berserk/) [Breakdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakdown/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Rejection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejection/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) ## Related quotes > [I've turned the annoying questions that white people ask into a career, so I understand that's where I live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-kamau-bell/i-ve-turned-the-annoying-questions-that-white-people-ask-into-a/) [W. Kamau Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-kamau-bell/) > [These events are swirling around them. In the white community, people felt like they had no control over their neighborhoods, their destiny. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/these-events-are-swirling-around-them-in-the-white-community-people/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [It's also important for those who promote those issues within the white community - the somewhat privileged community - to talk about issues affecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-glover/it-s-also-important-for-those-who-promote-those-issues-within-the/) [Danny Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-glover/) > [We're not here as a black band playing white string band music. You know, we play stuff in the Appalachians, we play stuff in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhiannon-giddens/we-re-not-here-as-a-black-band-playing-white-string-band-music-you/) [Rhiannon Giddens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhiannon-giddens/) > [Adolescents are in just as much trouble in Native America as they are in the white community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/adolescents-are-in-just-as-much-trouble-in-native-america-as-they-are/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [“Try being a white person who adopts the trappings of black culture while still living in the white community. You will face more hate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-noah/try-being-a-white-person-who-adopts-the-trappings-of-black-culture/) [Trevor Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-noah/) > [We were raised in the black community not to trust the police, and I believe, in the white community, they were raised to actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-b-vance/we-were-raised-in-the-black-community-not-to-trust-the-police-and-i/) [Courtney B. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-b-vance/) > [Apparently, the heart of opposition to new gun regulations is in the white community. Yet white people face far less daily violence with guns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-williams/apparently-the-heart-of-opposition-to-new-gun-regulations-is-in-the/) [Juan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-williams/) > [The black community now in many ways divided itself the way the larger white community divides itself, over class issues. And that race is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-smith/the-black-community-now-in-many-ways-divided-itself-the-way-the/) [Ed Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-smith/) > [There was a resistance movement in the white community, and there was a determined civil rights movement by our neighbors and friends in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-sessions/there-was-a-resistance-movement-in-the-white-community-and-there-was/) [Jeff Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-sessions/) > [I mean in the South African case, many of those who were part of death squads would have been respectable members of their white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/i-mean-in-the-south-african-case-many-of-those-who-were-part-of-death/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [It is truly not fun to be the family that sticks out in an all-white community. On the other side, I have five brothers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soledad-o-brien/it-is-truly-not-fun-to-be-the-family-that-sticks-out-in-an-all-white/) [Soledad O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soledad-o-brien/) > [You don't disarm any white community by confining yourself to any particular method. If you want freedom, then you should get freedom like Patrick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/you-don-t-disarm-any-white-community-by-confining-yourself-to-any/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [My hair journey involved a lot of trying to figure out how to deal with my hair as a bi-racial girl in a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soledad-o-brien/my-hair-journey-involved-a-lot-of-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-deal/) [Soledad O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soledad-o-brien/) > [I grew up basically in a predominantly, you know, white community and I was mixed but as a kid you don't know that. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/redfoo/i-grew-up-basically-in-a-predominantly-you-know-white-community-and-i/) [Redfoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/redfoo/) ## More by Cecil Williams > [When people get up on the stage and say, "I've got AIDS," or "I'm in recovery," gosh, it's hard for them. It's like that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/when-people-get-up-on-the-stage-and-say-i-ve-got-aids-or-i-m-in/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [I need to be in touch with the people. You've got to look in their eyes, and you've got to feel what they feel.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/i-need-to-be-in-touch-with-the-people-you-ve-got-to-look-in-their/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [The music certainly plays a major role. You can be free enough to comfort each other, to touch each other, to embrace each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/the-music-certainly-plays-a-major-role-you-can-be-free-enough-to/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [Any racism or barriers that may be put up, you get a tremendous sense of resistance. The more you push me, the greater I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/any-racism-or-barriers-that-may-be-put-up-you-get-a-tremendous-sense/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [I don't go and study other folks. I come from where I came from, as a kid, in the little black church I grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/i-don-t-go-and-study-other-folks-i-come-from-where-i-came-from-as-a/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [When the musician starts improvising, he never can go back to what he did last Sunday. That's what's frightening to a lot of people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/when-the-musician-starts-improvising-he-never-can-go-back-to-what-he/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [I'm not interested in being an intellectual or in being traditional, conventional. I'm not interested in having great wisdom. I'm not interested in those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/i-m-not-interested-in-being-an-intellectual-or-in-being-traditional/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [There's great poetry in the Old Testament and the New Testament. And I'm not interested in trying to prove whether this paragraph is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/there-s-great-poetry-in-the-old-testament-and-the-new-testament-and-i/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [I have excessive energy, tremendous energy. I have a sense of people. I can feel them, pretty much so, in a short time. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/i-have-excessive-energy-tremendous-energy-i-have-a-sense-of-people-i/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [Death is a reality, but life is a reality also. You got to live at this time in your life like you've never lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/death-is-a-reality-but-life-is-a-reality-also-you-got-to-live-at-this/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [I'm a folk preacher. A folk therapist. A folk musician. I come from authentically that which is of my experience. Therefore, the music is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/i-m-a-folk-preacher-a-folk-therapist-a-folk-musician-i-come-from/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [If you got the truth, you put it out there, and everybody says, "Oh, my God. That's me." And then they improvise also. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/if-you-got-the-truth-you-put-it-out-there-and-everybody-says-oh-my/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [I was the fifth child in a family of six, five boys and one girl. Bless that poor girl. We were very poor; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/i-was-the-fifth-child-in-a-family-of-six-five-boys-and-one-girl-bless/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [Research, as the college student will come to know it, is relatively thorough investigation, primarily in libraries, of a properly limited topic, and presentation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/research-as-the-college-student-will-come-to-know-it-is-relatively/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) > [I am noticing that we're getting more and more people - and I don't know how to handle this - who come to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-williams/i-am-noticing-that-we-re-getting-more-and-more-people-and-i-don-t/) [Cecil Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) [Explore all 16 Cecil Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-williams/) ## More Berserk quotes > [In politics, Bugs Bunny always beats Daffy Duck. Daffy's always going berserk, jumping up and down, yelling. Bugs's got that sly smile, like he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-greenfield/in-politics-bugs-bunny-always-beats-daffy-duck-daffy-s-always-going/) [Jeff Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-greenfield/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“If you meet god, tell him to just leave me alone!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kentaro-miura/if-you-meet-god-tell-him-to-just-leave-me-alone/) [Kentaro Miura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kentaro-miura/) > [If you want to win anything - a race, yourself, your life - you have to go a little berserk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-a-sheehan/if-you-want-to-win-anything-a-race-yourself-your-life-you-have-to-go/) [George A. Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-a-sheehan/) > [in the press, my sex life was something else again. I was Lady Bountiful of the Sheets. Some of the best fiction of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-day/in-the-press-my-sex-life-was-something-else-again-i-was-lady/) [Doris Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-day/) > [Look at my jacket and hat. So damn berserk. So down to earth. I'm bringing gravity back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinie-tempah/look-at-my-jacket-and-hat-so-damn-berserk-so-down-to-earth-i-m/) [Tinie Tempah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinie-tempah/) > [This is something I know: damaged women? We don't think we deserve kindness. IN fact, when kindness happens to us, we go a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/this-is-something-i-know-damaged-women-we-don-t-think-we-deserve/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [I always know a lie when I hear it, and the effect it has on me is no good at all. I go berserk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/i-always-know-a-lie-when-i-hear-it-and-the-effect-it-has-on-me-is-no/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [If you want to win a race you have to go a little berserk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-rodgers/if-you-want-to-win-a-race-you-have-to-go-a-little-berserk/) [Bill Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-rodgers/) > [Obsessions of the Orient, of the desert, of its ardor and its emptiness, of the shadows of palm gardens, of the garments white and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/obsessions-of-the-orient-of-the-desert-of-its-ardor-and-its-emptiness/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [“That thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kentaro-miura/that-thing-was-too-big-to-be-called-a-sword-too-big-too-thick-too/) [Kentaro Miura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kentaro-miura/) > [Meditation is hard. You are constantly trying to focus on one thing, usually your breath, and your mind is going to go berserk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harris/meditation-is-hard-you-are-constantly-trying-to-focus-on-one-thing/) [Dan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harris/) > [“He wanted to laugh; the vision of her pounding that wee boy in a fury of berserk rage, hair flying in the wind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/he-wanted-to-laugh-the-vision-of-her-pounding-that-wee-boy-in-a-fury/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [The horrible thing about Death of princess Diana - the sacrificial lamb, which she was. And I believe, in a sense, John Kennedy, Jr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/the-horrible-thing-about-death-of-princess-diana-the-sacrificial-lamb/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [I'm a really skinny guy, I'm real tall, and I have a very high metabolism, so if I drink anything with caffeine in it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hosler/i-m-a-really-skinny-guy-i-m-real-tall-and-i-have-a-very-high/) [Mark Hosler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hosler/) [Browse all 53 Berserk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/berserk/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That's critical to me, the community. When I was 12 years old, I had a mental breakdown; I went berserk for a long time. I felt rejection from the white community. Couldn't understand why the pigmentation of my skin kept me from doing. 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