Carmen Agra Deedy Quotes

When we have nothing to cling to as our own and cease thinking of ourselves as people who must defend privileges, we can open ourselves freely to others with the faithful expectation that our strength will manifest itself in our shared weakness.

Sometimes if you expose your vulnerability, someone else will feel comforted. It's like we're all in this boat together.

The most powerful weapon is hope.

When we [people] are operating from the belief that we're not connected, it feels so dangerous and scary and vulnerable and awful.

Our world and our lives have become increasingly interdependent, so when our neighbour is harmed, it affects us too. Therefore we have to abandon outdated notions of 'them' and 'us' and think of our world much more in terms of a great 'US', a greater human family.

The world needs the sense that we are all in it together.

I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can't stop us.

If we look long enough and hard enough ... we will begin to see the connections that bind us together, and when we recognize those connections, we will begin to change the world.

Community means caring: caring for people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says: "He who loves community destroys community; he who loves the brethren builds community." A community is not an abstract ideal.

Bringing people together is what i call 'ubuntu,' which means 'I am because we are.' Far too often people think of themselves as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

People are combining traditions like never before and finding somehow a fundamental unity for this human race of ours. I think working with each other as Jeff Haynes has done here-we may be surprised to find what deeper unity all human beings have.

There is a powerful recognition that stirs within us when we see our little blue ocean planet in the skies of other worlds. In an instant we can see how small, fragile, and alone we all really are.

Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group Groups of people from divergent ethnic and cultural backgrounds working in some sense together [is] surely a humanizing and character building experience. If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth.

In any case, community is not about perfect people. It is about people who are bonded to each other, each of whom is a mixture of good and bad, darkness and light, love and hate.

I've never been helpless, I just have powerful enemies

The more you try to suppress us, the larger we get.

I know enough to know that no man is an island.

There is a word in South Africa - Ubuntu - that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.

The freest people I know are those who have the least to hide, defend or protect. Naked is powerful.

The reason we do activism is because, maybe you haven't been raped or abused, but there are millions of people who can't say the same, and when you hear their stories you may be a little bit compelled. And it doesn't have to be dark. In the Congo, there are women who've been raped and re-raped, and they're so powerful, and they can carry trees on their heads, and they're dancing!

Over the years I’ve worked with countless women who have inspired me with their stories. Beyond makeup, we’ve talked about life-altering events. Everything from the joy of being a new mom to dealing with homelessness and divorce. With each conversation, these women have shown that when you have the will and the heart, almost anything is possible—and that’s what Pretty Powerful is all about.

I am because other people are.

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

Outside of my film work, my advocacy and activism is centered around inter-connection and inter-dependence.

We are not a problem people, we are people with problems.