K'naan Quotes

I didn't know a time when there wasn't a war because I spent all my time from the age of two or three to eight in a coal cellar really.

I suddenly remember something I've been told about fear. That amid a hail of machine gun fire you notice the existence of your skin.

We cannot but pity the boy who has never fired a gun; he is no more humane, while his education has been sadly neglected.

I was one of those children forced into fighting at the age of 13, in my country Sierra Leone, a war that claimed the lives of my mother, father and two brothers. I know too well the emotional, psychological and physical burden that comes with being exposed to violence as a child or at any age for that matter.

Ishmael Beah was born and spent his childhood in Sierra Leone as that sad but beautiful West African country was ravaged by a civil war that left some 50,000 dead between 1991 and 2002. He was a child soldier for a while, then, through extraordinary circumstances, was set free of that life.

I grew up as a child living 'Red Dawn.' I was leaping out of spider holes, mowing down Russkies at the age of eight.

During recess at school, I'd slip back into the classroom and find something in some other kid's lunch bag that wouldn't be missed - a package of crackers, an apple - and I'd gulp it down so quickly I would barely be able to taste it.

I grew up in the ghetto, and the thing is when there were problems, I knew when to get away.

When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time at home because of the war. We couldn't go out and play or go to school. Boredom was a big part of my life.

I had a very difficult father. I lived in a war zone. My parents were very unhappy, and I lived through my mother's pain. Throughout my childhood, I was constantly trying to protect her from my father.

Everything that happened to me as a child was the perfect breeding ground for a rock n' roll singer. It toughened me up. I was on edge; I was needy. I needed people to like me 'cause it made me feel safe... and that gave me confidence.

As you may know from my life story, my cousin who was my soul mate went to a public school. And he died of AIDS. Would I and my brother have been able to resist the lure of drugs in the surrounding schools? Who knows.

You have people that practice law and are lawyers and go to school for eight years, but you can become a cop in six months and don't have to have the same amount of training as a cosmetologist. That's insane. Someone that's holding a curling iron has more education and more training than people that have a gun and are going out on the street to protect us.

Because there might come a day when there is no flashlight, there is no gun, there is no guiding hand. And I want to be ready for it." (divergent pg.138)

I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children.

I think the fact that we allow guns in our country is the main problem with school shootings.

She wants to learn how to handle a gun. Well, I want George Clooney naked in my bed, but I haven't attempted kidnapping. Yet.

After my parents got divorced, I had to go right into public school in the fourth grade. The Steiner school had never really taught me how to read, so it was a rude awakening. I was playing catch-up the whole time.

I want to be the voice for those people who are going through the same thing, like little African American boys and girls getting bullied at school.

The U.S. has more guns per capita and supplies more guns to the world than any other country. What would be a fistfight without guns turns into dead bodies with them. Families with guns in the house are more likely to shoot themselves accidentally than to shoot any intruder. Women abused by their partners have a five-fold increased risk of being killed when their partner owns a gun. Every three hours, at least one child is wounded or killed by gunfire.

Keep your guns on and don't let anybody tell you how to load your guns or bust ya guns.

In Invisible there's a lot about childhood, the death of the brother and then the relationship between the brother and sister.

Yes, Dr. King is pro-gun just as surely as Jesus would be pro-nails.

There is absolutely no disconnect between common sense gun safety measures and protecting the Second Amendment rights of gun owners.

Remember, guns don't kill people - unless you practice real hard.