Frederick Douglass Quotes

It was imperative to make common cause with the oppressed in order to secure a new system opposed to the ambitions and governing habits of the oppressors.

If there is no struggle, there is no progress....This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

Writing is powerful. Whether it's a little girl hiding from the Nazis in an attic, or Amnesty International writing letters on behalf of political prisoners, the power of telling stories is usually what causes change.

Security isn't what I hunger for. I hunger for change. I hunger for connection.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

The great appear great to us only because we are on our knees;, LET US RISE!

Oppression costs the oppressor too much if the oppressed stand up and protest.

Power Concedes Nothing

Power cedes nothing without a demand.

Power is never so overwhelming that there's no room for resistance.

There will be no prison which can hold our movement down.

An oppressed people will always rise.

The people in power will not disappear voluntarily, giving flowers to the cops just isn't going to work. This thinking is fostered by the establishment; they like nothing better than love and nonviolence.

In any social revolution the one thing that keeps it alive is hope.

I live in the United States, but I do not know exactly where. My address is wherever there is a fight against oppression. My address is like my shoes; it travels with me. I abide where there is a fight against wrong.

I'm proud to be part of the resistance.

'Rise Up' is very necessary. Point blank.

You gotta call it out first; it always has to be called out when we need social change, but this is how social change happens: you call it out. People had to call out child labor. People had to call out, 'Hey time's up; we need to vote. We live in this country.' People had to call out 'time's up' on enslaving people, you know.

I know we have to have people of good conscience who stand up against oppression. I know we have to have people who understand that social justice belongs to us all. And that wakes me up every morning, and that makes me fight even harder.

it is immoral for powerless people to accept this powerlessness. They may not succeed in getting power but they can fight for it, and if enough fight for it, it makes it very difficult for the people with the big sticks.

Marcos is all the exploited, marginalised, oppressed minorities resisting and saying "Enough!" He is every minority who is now beginning to speak and every majority that must shut up and listen. He is every untolerated group searching for a way to speak. Everything that makes power and the good consciences of those in power uncomfortable - this is Marcos.

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.

Fear is the greatest form of oppression. The best way to rise up in protest is to live your life to its fullest!

Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them is the strongest force we have to change the world.

Never befriend the oppressed unless you are prepared to take on the oppressor.