Barack Obama Quotes

Each of us should choose which course of action we must take; education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes, but let it not be said that we did nothing.

In the words of Frederick Douglas, power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will. We must be that demand. We are the ones we've been waiting for.

Look at what I've done my entire life. I have been working on behalf of civil rights, women's rights, human rights for years and I know how challenging it is to change our political system and I have the highest regard for those who have put themselves on the line.

There is a point in fighting. There is a point in struggle. Not wholesale revolution, maybe, that might not be possible, an absolutely just society, but there are plenty of spaces and places where it's worth putting up a fight.

You'd think one day we'd learn. You don't get anything unless you fight for it, united and with visible numbers. If ACT UP taught us anything, it taught us that.

If you join a fight for social justice you may win or lose, but just by being part of the struggle, you win, and your life will be better for it.

If you aren't an activist you're an inactivist.

We have to realize we are building a movement.

Activists set the agenda for the practitioners.

Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.

I am going to fight for important things.

I have great respect for people who are in the front lines and the trenches of trying to enact social change. I am far lazier than that.

In this country, the only way a minority can get anything done is to make a little noise.

I think my voice would be great as a protestor but also it would be, and has been, very powerful for charity.

My job is to steel the backbone of people on the frontlines of social justice struggles, and to put wind in sails of those struggles. And people who are fighting on a, on a daily basis, at a grass roots level.

I think it's really important that we get rid of the idea that protest will create change.

The rhythm of being an activist today involves a pretty simple rhythm. You have to open your eyes to the reality before you. You have to look and see.

One does not fight to influence change and then leave the change to someone else to bring about.

By themselves, they are not enough; we also need to engage in political action.

Activism is something that no one can fake. You get angry. You cry. But you never throw in your towel, because that anger is what is propelling you to further action.

If you're aware of injustice, you can either ignore it, say there is nothing you can do about it, complain about it and not do anything, or put your energies into doing something about it.

I want to make activism a bigger part of my life, while hopefully maintaining the opportunity to help out causes that I really care about. And being an actor allows me to do that. Shooting a Cisco commercial allows me to do that. I mean, doing all these things allows me to talk about these issues. But don't think there aren't those moments where I'm like, "What am I doing? I have to quit my job and chain myself to a tree." Believe me, I have those moments.

Do not think that one has to be sad in order to be militant, even though the thing one is fighting is abominable.

I find myself moved by social justice issues. I'm not sure where that will lead me. I'm willing to nurture it.

My hope for America and the activists is that they never, ever go back to sleep, and they keep fighting for social justice, equality, and decency.