Ayanna Pressley Quotes

I think to many people the term 'activist film' implies a film with a single point of view - something designed to provoke outrage and urge action on a particular issue - sort of the film equivalent of a rally. 'If a Tree Falls' is not that kind of film.

I want to use my music to deliver a political message and sometimes to denounce, but I don't want to be a politician.

In the U.K., a lot of writers won't show up to support activist issues because they figure they're already repairing the world. I don't want to be one of those people.

I'm not quite sure precisely when social and political activism became a visible brand of my DNA, but it seems to me that I was born into it. It is hard to be born into the experience in the world of poverty and not develop some instinct for survival and resistance to those things that oppress you.

You know there's problems - you can see all the poverty and so on - but it's quite another matter to know what you can do about it.

We should be aware and constantly having conversations about the world because that's how you change it from the bigger standpoint rather than acutely trying to change things.

We cannot effect meaningful change if we become complacent, if we become comfortable with our own positions in the status quo.

I'm thankful to be in a position in my career where I can advocate for better policies and partner with future generations, like my daughters, to be a voice for change.

Though I do believe that when you live in political times it is inevitable that your art be political, I also think we need to start making activists celebrities rather than trying to make celebrities to be activists.

I try to use my influence and empower my community to always question the status quo - whether it relates to broader policy issues or YouTube gossip.

My mother said, 'Did you ever believe you would be an activist?' I said, 'No, not really.' But I just felt in my heart that I needed to step up and be a leader in the forefront.

I know it's very comfortable to sit at home and stay with your family, kids and friends and not worry about anything. But with the platform we have we should be the people that scream at the social issues and put them out there so as a society we can move forward.

You have so much power to bring awareness, prevention and change.

It's important that people press from the outside. It's important that people are able to make change from the inside. Both of those things are important. Protest is fundamentally a political act.

I'm lucky enough to have a kid with me who is actually really intellectually up with what's going on in the world and actually puts his money where his mouth is and goes and does something about it; he goes and talks about it. It livens you up a bit and it brings you into the 21st Century.

People on a spiritual path - personal growth, spiritual practice, recovery, yoga and so forth - are the last people who should be sitting out the social and political issues of our day. And there’s an important reason for this: People on such journeys are adepts at change. They know that the mechanics of the heart and mind are the fundamental drivers of transformation.

People like to say, “Well, you’re a celebrity. You should really pick a cause.” I felt that’s like telling a doctor, “Well, you should focus on one area of the body.” Current issues, global issues, political issues, women’s issues—whatever one you want to talk about. It’s systemic, you know?

Being a philanthropist doesn't mean necessarily writing a huge check. It can mean mobilizing your community to start asking questions.

To change the world you'll need a pen.

I feel I need to really think about whether there's a way to use what skill I have to address things that outrage me, like the 13 year old girl getting stoned to death. Because I don't think making a movie is going to help that, or change that.

Most of the time we do nothing, myself included, I think the lesson I learned from [playing humanitarian Tessa in The Constant Gardner] is that a lot of drops make up an ocean. If people would stand up and say what they believe in maybe we can make a difference. Helping one person is better than nothing. Just do something.

What is a change-maker? What has Hillary Clinton changed? It is filled with all the cliches that New Agers and leftists glom on to, like "common sense gun control legislation." But it never was defined.

I began to realise that we are all oppressed which is why I would like to do something about it, though I'm not sure where my place is.

A song is not going to change this damn world. Instead of making people mad about this shitty situation, it's going to make everybody happy. It's a false thing. It's like a lullaby as opposed to a gun. People need to be slapped into reality and music just doesn't do that.

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