“Before you try to be like anyone else, find out if you are your true self, because if you try to be like anyone else including me, that means you do not know who you are. Selah! The day yourself will rise, the people that you want to be like will not be there.”

Patience Johnson is a British-American novelist and essayist. She blends sharp social observation with lyrical prose, exploring themes of identity, race, and belonging in works like *The Dead and the Dark* and *The Book of Form and Emptiness*. Her writing often examines the intersections of history and personal narrative with quiet intensity.