Clemantine Wamariya

Clemantine Wamariya (born 1988) is a Rwandan-American Author, speaker, and human rights activist.

Clemantine Wamariya in 2016

Quotes

• It’s the journey of digging deep into yourself and the things you discover if you only dare to dig deep into your memories, your relationship, and your thoughts. It’s been such an incredible journey, but thank goodness I was not alone in it. So many people feeding me, listening to me, editing, hosting me—so it’s not been alone.
  • On her book The Girl Who Smiled Beads in “A Conversation with Clemantine Wamariya” in Read it Forward (2017)

• Home is a concept. It’s one of a story that we cling to so deeply. When your home has been really, “here is my couch, here is my this, here is my that,” it becomes like mine. For me, home is where people who are loving are. It could be on the street. It could be inside of a tent. It could be in a place where they’re not given a land, then that is a place called a slum. It could be in the high rises of New York or in the middle of chaos in Mexico City. And the physical piece of a home is so important, especially when the weather—sun, cold—is against you…
  • On what she considers “home” in “A Conversation with Clemantine Wamariya” in Read it Forward (2017)

• Every single person on the planet has equal humanity. In my own life I’ve gone from being seen as utterly worthless to [having] great privilege, and nothing about who I am inside has changed. Every person you see seeking refuge, every person you see walking away from their whole life because their country has descended into chaos and war…I am every one of those people. You are every one of those people too…
  • On the plight of refugees in “Clemantine Wamariya, Who Survived Genocide in Rwanda, on Her New Memoir, The Girl Who Smiled Beads—and Living for Black Joy” in Vogue Magazine (2018 Mar 16)

• I want to be so loud about the experience of killing each other. I want to tap into everyone’s senses, to touch on our human sensibility.
  • On what she hopes The Girl Who Smiled Beads accomplishes in “A moment on ‘Oprah’ made her a human rights symbol. She wants to be more than that.” in The Washington Post (2018 Apr 19)
• The reunion was one of the deepest, most joyful moments.
  • Clemantine Wamariya. washingtonpost.com (April 19, 2018)
• I was the clever child who induced the fairy godmother to bring her parents back to life.
  • Clemantine Wamariya. Read more on washingtonpost.com. (April 19, 2018)
• My mom says tears are good for your skin.” And maybe your soul, too.
  • Clemantine Wamariya. Read more on washingtonpost.com. (April 19, 2018)
• Anything to help me connect with my strength beyond suffering.
  • After Writing a Memoir About Her Past, Clemantine Wamariya. hotchkiss.org (March 28 2019)
• It’s strange, how you go from being a person who is away from home to a person with no home at all. The place that is supposed to want you has pushed you out. No other place takes you in. You are unwanted, by everyone. You are a refugee.
  • He Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After. hotchkiss.org (March 28 2019)
• We don’t write about the human emotions of conflicts; we write about the political and economic aftermath. I wanted to write about those feelings.
  • After Writing a Memoir About Her Past, Clemantine Wamariya. hotchkiss.org (March 28 2019)
• We’ve created these categories that divide us as humans, and in doing that, we miss each other. I want to bring people together and remind everyone that they have permission to know themselves and others beyond labels.
  • After Writing a Memoir About Her Past, Clemantine Wamariya. hotchkiss.org (March 28 2019)
• There is so much human pain and suffering in the world. I want to honor all those difficult experiences and acknowledge their aftermath.
  • After Writing a Memoir About Her Past, Clemantine Wamariya. hotchkiss.org (March 28 2019)
• I want to really live in the present, and find love and joy in the world around me.
  • After Writing a Memoir About Her Past, Clemantine Wamariya. hotchkiss.org (March 28 2019)
• Staying alive was so much work…. You had to try to stay a person.
  • Her New Memoir, The Girl Who Smiled Beads—and Living for Black Joy. vogue.com (March 16, 2018)
• One of the most valuable skills I’d learned while trying to survive as a refugee was reading what other people wanted me to do.
  • I hadn’t seen my parents for 12 years. ideas.ted.com (May 8, 2018)
• In Malawi, I used to write my name in dust on trucks, hoping my mother would see my loopy cursive and realize that I was alive.
  • I hadn’t seen my parents for 12 years. ideas.ted.com (May 8, 2018)