Nina Easton Quotes

I got into politics a little bit by chance, as a person from the first generation of the Solidarity movement.

After the first International Days of Protest in October, 1965, Senator Mansfield criticized the 'sense of utter irresponsibility' shown by the demonstrators.

One individual can begin a movement that turns the tide of history. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement, Mohandas Ganhi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa are examples of people standing up with courage and non-violence to bring about needed changes.

I was involved in some peaceful protests.

Revolution is an instrument, like a party is an instrument.

I think there's a mystery about what a social movement is.

I don't think there's any serious discussion inside the Chinese government about liberalising. I don't think anything's going to change in China until enough Chinese say, 'We're not going to play this game any more.'

The truth is that all civic and social change is friction. Politics is friction. The only way you can bend the arc of history is to create that kind of friction, which is something that makes most people incredibly uncomfortable but which, for whatever reason, because of my upbringing or because of my genetics, is something that doesn't bug me.

Civil disobedience has an honourable history, and when the urgency and moral clarity cross a certain threshold, then I think that civil disobedience is quite understandable, and it has a role to play.

The hippie movement politicized my generation. When it ended, we all started looking back at our own history, looking, in my case, for motives of rebellion.

America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

We will have no political future if we are not arrested.

We are on the threshold of a significant breakthrough, and the greatest weapon is the mass demonstration.

Surely one can be a dissident without intending to run for a higher public office.

I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get in the way. To find a way to get in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble.

I think there's a weapon of cynicism to say, 'Protest doesn't work. Organizing doesn't work. Y'all are a bunch of hippies. You know, it doesn't do anything,' because, frankly, it's said out of fear, because it is a potent force for political change.

We will continue our protest with our course on free elections.

You know in democracy you can protest peacefully and I'm sure you know it will have at least some kind of impact. You need to raise your voice. If you can't do much, you know, but at least raise you voice. Raising your voice is something you need to do.

Peaceful protest is a hallmark of our democracy. It has been in impetus for social change throughout our history.

I am not naive enough to believe that voting is the only way to bring about transformational change, just as I know that protest alone is not the sole solution to the challenges we face.

There is no scope for revolutions coming to Belarus.

It's interesting to me that the Arab Spring started in Tunisia, and in the marches, people were singing 'Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights.'

I don't accept armed struggle. Maybe it was the way in the '50s and '60s, but we want a democratic revolution.

We're here to let the Democrats know that the grass roots and the anti-war movement elected them to create change.

You know, I was a community activist, so I'm used to standing out in front of an elected official's office and protesting.