"Some books save lives. On its thirty-fifth anniversary, this book is still doing it. If you have never read this wise, accurate and still fresh reality-check on how black women have often been left out of the public image of both the civil rights and feminist movements – even though they disproportionately created both – read this book. You will see the world whole. In recent times, for instance, why did 51% of white women voters support Donald Trump, yet 96% of black women voters supported Hillary Clinton? This book will explain why. More than any other definable group, black women are the hope for the democratic future of this country. And after you finish this book by Paula Giddings, read A Sword Among Lions, her great biography of Ida B. Wells. You will see how long black women have been leading us."

"What can I say about this one? Well, I just love it. Of course that became a mantra for the civil rights movement. ‘Respect’ is just basic to everyone: everybody wants it. Even small children want respect. They don’t know that they want it, but they want respect. They let you know when they need something, and when they do, it’s a little respect. Everybody wants and needs respect. It’s basic to mankind. Perhaps what people could not say, the record said it for them. “I remember recording it with the Memphis Horns down in Muscle Shoals. Great session, great players. I had no idea it would become the hit it became. No idea. My sister Caroline and I got together for the backup vocals. And during that time, in Detroit, there was a cliché called ‘sock it to me,’ and I decided to put that in the background: ‘sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me.’ There was nothing sexual about that. It’s like if you gave me a high five. “I don’t think I was a catalyst for the women’s movement. As far as I know, that was Gloria Steinem’s role. But if I were, so much the better. Women did, and still do, need equal rights. We’re doing the same job, we expect the same pay, and the same respect. “I never get tired of singing it. I really love it. And I find new ways to just keep it fresh for me, without changing exactly what it is people heard on the record."

"What can I say about this one? Well, I just love it. Of course that became a mantra for the civil rights movement. ‘Respect’ is just basic to everyone: everybody wants it. Even small children want respect. They don’t know that they want it, but they want respect. They let you know when they need something, and when they do, it’s a little respect. Everybody wants and needs respect. It’s basic to mankind. Perhaps what people could not say, the record said it for them. “I remember recording it with the Memphis Horns down in Muscle Shoals. Great session, great players. I had no idea it would become the hit it became. No idea. My sister Caroline and I got together for the backup vocals. And during that time, in Detroit, there was a cliché called ‘sock it to me,’ and I decided to put that in the background: ‘sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me.’ There was nothing sexual about that. It’s like if you gave me a high five. “I don’t think I was a catalyst for the women’s movement. As far as I know, that was Gloria Steinem’s role. But if I were, so much the better. Women did, and still do, need equal rights. We’re doing the same job, we expect the same pay, and the same respect. “I never get tired of singing it. I really love it. And I find new ways to just keep it fresh for me, without changing exactly what it is people heard on the record."