Ralph Abernathy Quotes

This Constitution does not reflect the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of ordinary people. It does nothing for jobs or economic growth and widens further still the democratic deficit.

But the truth of the matter is that there is there is an opportunity for them to participate in the economic and political future of the country and certainly in the security life of the country.

When people lack jobs, opportunity, and ownership of property they have little or no stake in their communities.

The more I support with my economic plans the building of a middle class, the quicker they're going to turn around and say, 'Hey, we want a bigger say in things.' So, I knew what I was getting into right at the beginning. It's the right thing to do.

Viciousness and prejudice flow from economic dislocation, and in turn feed it.

Full social and political engagement is impossible without economic empowerment, a point that is as true for women as it is for young people of either gender.

The poor prey on one another because their lives offer no hope and communicate the tragic message to these human beings that they have no possibility to attain a decent standard of living.

People who own property feel a sense of ownership in their future and their society. They study, save, work, strive and vote. And people trapped in a culture of tenancy do not.

My father said, 'Son, when you grow up, I don't want you to be a member of a party that caters to the oppressed and the poor. You have to aspire to be a member of a party that is happy, winning and influential.'

As I said, I spent most of my adult life thinking I didn't have a vote, and therefore that what I thought didn't matter.

Those born into poverty or on the margins of society require our extra support to realize their dreams.

I swear to the Lord I still can't see Why Democracy means Everybody but me.

Voting rights and free speech are of little value to those with neither the education nor economic clout to make them meaningful.

If you are poor today, you will always be poor. Only the rich now acquire riches.

It was because there was no platform upon which they could stand ... no method by which the communities could translate their desires for those individuals into provision for those individuals.

Preventing poverty beats curing it.

What everyone has always wanted in this country, what most came here for, was to get away from all those others who smell bad, are sleeping in a shanty, and are eating fatback and are going to loaf tomorrow because there is no job to go to.

There are ways that we, as a society, the laws that we write and the contracts we build, can try to actually increase people's ability to reap the reward from their own potential. But we put barriers in front of them.

A universal voucher program would change the face of poverty in this country.

Poverty is not just about income: it's about aspiration. It's not just about giving people a couple of extra pounds a week, welcome though that is.

I had my freedom, and I had my comfortable life, but I couldn't accept the fact that the politicians were making it increasingly difficult for my kids and millions of others to achieve their dreams as I had achieved mine. So, in 2012, I ran for president.

This is what I think about poverty: why waste the potential of people? You never know what you've got going in society unless you give people a chance.

A guaranteed basic income has the potential for making civic organizations, families and neighborhoods much more vital, helpful and responsive than they have been in decades.

My agenda for national public service would provide a pathway to the middle class for all Americans and would ensure that those who dedicate themselves to their communities are rewarded for their efforts.

The truth is the middle class is not only stagnant but it is my fear that, without sustained and focused action, it is at risk of disappearing.