Shirley Chisholm Quotes

It matters whether women sit at the table. No one speaks up for you when you are standing outside with your nose pressed up against the glass. You cannot window-shop for power.

If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.

Civil Rights opened the windows. When you open the windows, it does not mean that everybody will get through. We must create our own opportunities.

This is an important appointment to a community that has often felt excluded from the decision making process.

America wins when the voiceless have a seat at the table, when the vulnerable are protected, and when working families have the same political clout as the wealthy.

The people need someone who's closer to them and the American people need someone who will be their change agent and fight for the issues that are important to them.

Representation makes a difference.

I always look at things half full and definitely see a change in how things are going as far as black actresses and their opportunities.

I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone.'

I have never wavered from my intention to advance the cause of diversity in new and more effective ways.

You must make sure that the majority of the people are not marginalized.

I don't have one role that I want to play. I guess... I want to be a producer. I want to be an activist. I want to be proactive in bringing about work for men, women, boys, girls, everybody who is good at what they do and deserve a shot at it.

I'm not going to change the world overnight. It's one person at a time, and hopefully they're people in positions of power who can help people get in those roles and really, truly embrace colorblind casting.

If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.

My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.

We need leaders who will stand up for the little guy and listen once again.

In creating my YouTube videos, I don't want to speak for my audience and the people I represent; I want to amplify their voices.

I just think that all of us in this room should have a voice in how the USA is represented. And he don't allow us our voice, that's all I'm saying.

Stronger than all the armies is the idea whose time has come. The time has come for equality in sharing in government and education, and in employment. It will not be stayed or denied. It is here.

Open a door for the disaffected of your State to come in.

Everything hinges on education. Without it, you can't advocate for proper health care, for housing, for a civil rights bill that ensures your rights.

We not only need community development but we need equitable development.

To you people out there, you producers and you network owners and you agents and you creative sparks, please give transgender talent a chance. Give them auditions. Give them their story. Do that.

We have to start creating more material that gives a platform for people of colour, for women, for old people and young people alike to be able to showcase their talent. It's much bigger than a black or white thing.

If you help elect more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward. It means hope to a nation that has given up, because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone.