--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My family belonged to a very particular…" description: "\"My family belonged to a very particular formation - middle-class and coloured, not black. That meant it had a closer connection to the plantocracy than..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/stuart-hall-17324_belonged_my-family-belonged-to-a-very-particular_420037.jpg" --- # My family belonged to a very particular formation… ![“My family belonged to a very particular formation - middle-class and coloured, not black. That meant it had a closer connection to the plantocracy than many other people did. So I didn't feel like an ordinary black Jamaican boy.” quote by Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/stuart-hall-17324_belonged_my-family-belonged-to-a-very-particular_420037.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/stuart-hall-17324_belonged_my-family-belonged-to-a-very-particular_420037.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/stuart-hall-17324_belonged_my-family-belonged-to-a-very-particular_420037.jpg) > “My family belonged to a very particular formation - middle-class and coloured, not black. That meant it had a closer connection to the plantocracy than many other people did. So I didn't feel like an ordinary black Jamaican boy.” [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is shaped by class, race, and colonial history, creating a unique social position. **In simple terms:** Identity mixes class, race, and history. Key Takeaway Recognize intersecting influences on self. Themes identity class race colonialism Mood analytical thoughtful Type academic personal When to use this quote - personal narrative - academic research - policy making - community organizing Key Concepts intersectionality cultural formation social hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - How does your background affect your worldview? - Can identity be fluid over time? A Different Perspective Identity labels can oversimplify lived experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belonged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belonged/) [Belonged Particular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belonged-particular-3725486/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black Jamaican](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-jamaican-1472672/) [Connection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connection/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Family Belonged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-belonged-1720684/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Plantocracy People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantocracy-people-3725485/) ## Related quotes > [“I have been thinking about you a great deal this summer; having somebody take an interest in me after all these years makes me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster-daddy-long-legs/i-have-been-thinking-about-you-a-great-deal-this-summer-having/) [Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster-daddy-long-legs/) > [Believe me, I didn't think there was some princely family I belonged to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/believe-me-i-didn-t-think-there-was-some-princely-family-i-belonged-to/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [I read so much stuff that black women say, especially about my relationship. 'Oh, he left his black wife to go be with some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/i-read-so-much-stuff-that-black-women-say-especially-about-my/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [That the language of the poetry of Jamaican music is rastafarian or biblical language cannot simply be put down to the colonizer and his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linton-kwesi-johnson/that-the-language-of-the-poetry-of-jamaican-music-is-rastafarian-or/) [Linton Kwesi Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linton-kwesi-johnson/) > [I sang in the choir for years, even though my family belonged to another church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-lynde/i-sang-in-the-choir-for-years-even-though-my-family-belonged-to/) [Paul Lynde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-lynde/) > [Hi Bethany,I rgineoczed your description of the religious organization that influenced your family. My family belonged to the same group for 5 years. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gurvinder/hi-bethany-i-rgineoczed-your-description-of-the-religious/) [Gurvinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gurvinder/) > [“Was there anyone before you? You might have thought so at the the time. I feel like no one's ever loved me before. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-reiss/was-there-anyone-before-you-you-might-have-thought-so-at-the-the-time/) [C.D. Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-reiss/) > [The first time that I stepped onto a stage, it was life-changing. For once, I felt comfortable and in a place where I belonged.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shanice-williams/the-first-time-that-i-stepped-onto-a-stage-it-was-life-changing-for/) [Shanice Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shanice-williams/) > [“There was nowhere else she belonged but right here with him. In his life, in his home, in his arms. She was his—and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxie-rivera/there-was-nowhere-else-she-belonged-but-right-here-with-him-in-his/) [Roxie Rivera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxie-rivera/) > [The power to bring me out of solitude - or to push me back into it - had never belonged to another person. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/the-power-to-bring-me-out-of-solitude-or-to-push-me-back-into-it-had/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [The whole force of the respectable circles to which I belonged, that respectable circle which knew as I did notthe value of security won,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-tarbell/the-whole-force-of-the-respectable-circles-to-which-i-belonged-that/) [Ida Tarbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-tarbell/) > [I always thought competition was for horse races and it never belonged in art. I never felt that competitive with other girl singers, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/i-always-thought-competition-was-for-horse-races-and-it-never/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [I moved to Milan when I was 15. I was always looking for something; I never really felt like I belonged where I was,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-prepon/i-moved-to-milan-when-i-was-15-i-was-always-looking-for-something-i/) [Laura Prepon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-prepon/) > [“She is beyond me, but my love is pure, not base desire To her alone I belonged, I belong - even if mine she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umera-ahmed/she-is-beyond-me-but-my-love-is-pure-not-base-desire-to-her-alone-i/) [Umera Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umera-ahmed/) > [I've never belonged to any group that didn't have at least one member who wasn't a total dick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rock-cowles/i-ve-never-belonged-to-any-group-that-didn-t-have-at-least-one-member/) [Rock Cowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rock-cowles/) ## More by Stuart Hall > [I would say that New Labour come closer to institutionalising neoliberalism as a social and political form than Thatcher did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/i-would-say-that-new-labour-come-closer-to-institutionalising/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [People have to have a language to speak about where they are and what other possible futures are available to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/people-have-to-have-a-language-to-speak-about-where-they-are-and-what/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [The very notion of Great Britain's 'greatness' is bound up with empire. Euro-scepticism and Little Englander nationalism could hardly survive if people understood whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/the-very-notion-of-great-britain-s-greatness-is-bound-up-with-empire/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [“In practice, race was a sliding signifier in Jamaica. The social slippage – the sliding of the signifier – was extensive, constitutive of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/in-practice-race-was-a-sliding-signifier-in-jamaica-the-social/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [The DuBois Institute in the heart of Harvard is an extremely important political intervention and I'm delighted to be invited to speak here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/the-dubois-institute-in-the-heart-of-harvard-is-an-extremely/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [Thatcherism, as an ideology, addresses the fears, the anxieties, the lost identities, of a people. It invites us to think about politics in images.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/thatcherism-as-an-ideology-addresses-the-fears-the-anxieties-the-lost/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [The question of hegemony is always the question of a new cultural order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/the-question-of-hegemony-is-always-the-question-of-a-new-cultural/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [“Against the urgency of people dying in the streets, what in God's name is the point of cultural studies?...At that point, I think anybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/against-the-urgency-of-people-dying-in-the-streets-what-in-god-s-name/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [I thought I might find the real me in Oxford. Civil rights made me accept being a black intellectual. There was no such thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/i-thought-i-might-find-the-real-me-in-oxford-civil-rights-made-me/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [“Music has been called 'the most noise conveying the least information”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/music-has-been-called-the-most-noise-conveying-the-least-information/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [“culture comes into play at precisely the point where biological individuals become subjects, and that what lies between the two is not some automatically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/culture-comes-into-play-at-precisely-the-point-where-biological/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [While every effort is being undertaken to make the memory of the Thatcher government disappear, Thatcherism is still working its way through the system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/while-every-effort-is-being-undertaken-to-make-the-memory-of-the/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [Race is more like a language than it is like the way in which we are biologically constituted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/race-is-more-like-a-language-than-it-is-like-the-way-in-which-we-are/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [I have a funny relationship to the British working class movement... I'm in it, but not culturally of it... I was aware that I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/i-have-a-funny-relationship-to-the-british-working-class-movement-i-m/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) > [I came to the U.K. at the age of 19 and I didn't know anything about the working-class tradition, the Labour Party and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hall/i-came-to-the-u-k-at-the-age-of-19-and-i-didn-t-know-anything-about/) [Stuart Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) [Explore all 37 Stuart Hall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hall/) ## More Belonged quotes > [I've never belonged to any group that didn't have at least one member who wasn't a total dick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rock-cowles/i-ve-never-belonged-to-any-group-that-didn-t-have-at-least-one-member/) [Rock Cowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rock-cowles/) > [“She is beyond me, but my love is pure, not base desire To her alone I belonged, I belong - even if mine she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umera-ahmed/she-is-beyond-me-but-my-love-is-pure-not-base-desire-to-her-alone-i/) [Umera Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umera-ahmed/) > [I moved to Milan when I was 15. I was always looking for something; I never really felt like I belonged where I was,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-prepon/i-moved-to-milan-when-i-was-15-i-was-always-looking-for-something-i/) [Laura Prepon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-prepon/) > [I always thought competition was for horse races and it never belonged in art. I never felt that competitive with other girl singers, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/i-always-thought-competition-was-for-horse-races-and-it-never/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [The whole force of the respectable circles to which I belonged, that respectable circle which knew as I did notthe value of security won,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-tarbell/the-whole-force-of-the-respectable-circles-to-which-i-belonged-that/) [Ida Tarbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-tarbell/) > [The power to bring me out of solitude - or to push me back into it - had never belonged to another person. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/the-power-to-bring-me-out-of-solitude-or-to-push-me-back-into-it-had/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [“There was nowhere else she belonged but right here with him. In his life, in his home, in his arms. She was his—and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxie-rivera/there-was-nowhere-else-she-belonged-but-right-here-with-him-in-his/) [Roxie Rivera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxie-rivera/) > [The first time that I stepped onto a stage, it was life-changing. For once, I felt comfortable and in a place where I belonged.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shanice-williams/the-first-time-that-i-stepped-onto-a-stage-it-was-life-changing-for/) [Shanice Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shanice-williams/) > [“Was there anyone before you? You might have thought so at the the time. I feel like no one's ever loved me before. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-reiss/was-there-anyone-before-you-you-might-have-thought-so-at-the-the-time/) [C.D. Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-reiss/) > [One thing that was very important to me was that I felt comfortable in the lab from being very, very small. I knew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-jahren/one-thing-that-was-very-important-to-me-was-that-i-felt-comfortable/) [Hope Jahren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-jahren/) > [“let it go let it leave let it happen nothing in this world was promised or belonged to you anyway - all you own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/let-it-go-let-it-leave-let-it-happen-nothing-in-this-world-was/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) > [The character of the monkey just grew from something out of his face and my granddad's personality. They fused, and that's what I ended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-conti/the-character-of-the-monkey-just-grew-from-something-out-of-his-face/) [Nina Conti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-conti/) > [I was always kind of searching for the right social group in high school and never really felt like I belonged with any one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-dyer/i-was-always-kind-of-searching-for-the-right-social-group-in-high/) [Natalia Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-dyer/) > [I was a silent actress: a body. I belonged to dreams - to those who can't be broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-kristel/i-was-a-silent-actress-a-body-i-belonged-to-dreams-to-those-who-can-t/) [Sylvia Kristel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-kristel/) > [I took three steps and was wrapped in his arms, where I belonged. No confusion here. No worries here. No troubles here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/i-took-three-steps-and-was-wrapped-in-his-arms-where-i-belonged-no/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) [Browse all 304 Belonged quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belonged/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My family belonged to a very particular formation - middle-class and coloured, not black. That meant it had a closer connection to the plantocracy than many other people did. 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