Nancy Keenan Quotes

I campaigned for Obama, and that was such a big component of getting the vote out, was social media.

I became active in politics because I saw the possibility, if we all sat back and did nothing, of a world in which there would no longer be any stages for actors to act on.

I think I will always have a connection to young people, to try to bring their voices to the polls, bring their voices wherever they can make a difference.

I'm totally down with insurrection in the street. I've had a great time with that over the years. Insurrection in the voting booth is the other part of the equation.

When too many Americans don't vote or participate, some see apathy and despair. I see disappointment and even outrage. And I believe that out of this frustration can come hope and action.

As to politics, I am doing what I can for the cause.

I think voting is the lowest form of political action that you can do. A lot of times, it keeps people from doing stronger things.

The big umbrella issue is, do I make a bigger difference on the outside of political process or on the inside?

I grew up around politics. I organized my first campaign when I was 14, a walk-out in my high school to protest the year-round school schedule.

I worked on congressional campaigns when I was a teenager. I did United Way fundraisers when I was a teen. We advocated; we spoke out. I protested the first Iraq War in college.

We're told, 'If you want to change the world, vote.' And really, if you want to change the world, there's a lot more things that you can do.

Every call you make, every door you knock, every friend you register to vote could make the difference.

There is a weapon we can fight with. That is the weapon of political action.

I am such a political person.

I loved campaigning for Obama.

Politics are close to me, but there are different ways of participating in politics.

Obama used to be a community organizer. He knows how to build communities.

I value public service and I'm relatively good at organizing political causes.

I'm not ready to give you a clear answer on whether electoral politics holds any particular hope for progressives. It would mean that nothing I did ever mattered.

Electoral politics was always an objective of the Black Panther party, so Barack Obama is a part of what we dreamed and struggled and died for.

I don't see how anybody cannot be political in this day and age. There's so much going on and you have to be aware and you have to vote. Our lives are political.

I long for the day when there are things I feel strongly about politically.

I feel very happy to be living in Berkeley because there are a lot of people who are politically active here.

When I turned 18, was the first time that I really started concentrating on politics. And I started doing so because I realized that in order to really create and generate change, it has to come from changing laws... so I started campaigning for Norman Lear's foundation, which was Declare Yourself.

There are three critical ingredients to democratic renewal and progressive change in America: good public policy, grassroots organizing and electoral politics.