Tarana Burke Quotes

I just feel that I'm compelled; that I have a responsibility to give back to those less fortunate.

There is a moral obligation that those who have should give to those who don't.

It is feasible for someone who comes from a privileged background to understand the privilege they have had and to use the formal political arena in a way that would disperse power and engage with people in their own lives.

Real equality is immensely difficult to achieve, it needs continual revision and monitoring of distributions. And it does not provide buffers between members, so they are continually colliding or frustrating each other.

Remember, social progress only happens when those in society's privileged classes choose to give up their status.

While everyone's experience of oppression is different and complicated and often overlapping, I really believe that if you have privilege, you need to learn as much as you can about the world beyond yourself.

The paradox of American democracy has been that its slogan of equal opportunity has meant, often, equal opportunity to get power over your fellows.

Use power to help people.

If any group wants to not be disenfranchised, then understanding that there's going to be a learning curve for people who have disenfranchised them is important.

Those fortunate to achieve great wealth should put it to work for the good of humanity.

How do we form a coalition of resistance without obliterating our differences? Not all lives matter, and we are not all the same immigrants.

You cannot isolate a group and say you're not going to serve their needs.

There are people getting screwed in our country every single second, minute, hour of the day. And if by our work, we can decrease that number, we'll make a difference; we'll be doing our jobs.

Intersectionality is not easy. It's not as though the existing frameworks that we have - from our culture, our politics, or our law - automatically lead people to being conversant and literate in intersectionality.

The better we understand how identities and power work together from one context to another, the less likely our movements for change are to fracture.

While white women and men of color also experience discrimination, all too often their experiences are taken as the only point of departure for all conversations about discrimination. Being front and center in conversations about racism or sexism is a complicated privilege that is often hard to see.

I've always felt obligated to help those less fortunate than me. It's an obligation that anyone who has a chance to be in the NBA should feel and act upon.

I've been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that's kind of a religious belief. I mean, it's at least a moral belief.

I just think the most difficult thing to displace is privilege.

Altruism is one of the most fundamentally social impulses, and doing things for others without expecting anything in return is core to what makes us human. This is why, from the day Facebook Platform launched in 2007, Causes has been honored to be one of the most popular applications, with over 140 million users.

Philanthropy and social change work are at their best when they are driven by your values and connected to what you care about most.

I always knew that I wanted to do the most that I could for the most people.

What I like to do is try to make a difference with the work I do.

If we truly seek diversity in fiction, we have to let the needs of others come before our need to define ourselves as social justice allies.

I'm the result of upbringing, class, race, gender, social prejudices, and economics. So I'm a victim again. A result.