Sue Monk Kidd Quotes

At every turn when there has been an imbalance of power, the truth questioned, or our beliefs and values distorted, the change required to restore our nation has always come from the bottom up from our people.

There is no degree of human suffering which in and of itself is going to bring about change. Only organisation can change things.

If you believe in making change from the bottom up, if you believe the measure of change is how many people's lives are better, you know it's hard, and some people think it's boring.

Charity is only a waystation on the road to justice.

We cannot accept the world as it is. Each day we should wake up foaming at the mouth because of the injustice of things.

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.

If there's a theme in my work, it's that I like to focus on smart people who are facing oppression and who are fighting back against it.

We must renew the economy from the bottom up, not top down.

But there are certain very practical things American Negro writers can do. And must do. There's a song that says, "the time ain't long." That song is right. Something has got to change in America-and change soon. We must help that change to come.

These people in Mississippi State, they are not "down"; all they need is a chance. And I am determined to give my part not for what the Movement can do for me, but what I can do for the Movement to bring about a change in the State of Mississippi.

Charity isn't a good substitute for justice.

Every important change in our society, for the good, at least, has taken place because of popular pressure-pressure from below, from the great mass of people.

Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

Human kind is made up of two sexes, women and men. Is it possible that a mass is improved by the improvement of only one part and the other part is ignored? Is it possible that if half of a mass is tied to earth with chains and the other half can soar into skies?

No religion will ever make me forget the condition of our people in this country...No God, no religion, no nothing will make me forget it until it stops, until it's elimitnated. I want to make that point clear.

I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity

Recognizing that something is wrong is the first step toward changing the world.

These powerless people at the bottom are the ones with whom we must begin. They must have the insight and the knowledge to work together and recognise that they are on the right track.

Concentrated power can be always wielded in the interest of the few and at the expense of the many. Government in its last analysis is this power reduced to a science. Governments never lead; they follow progress. When the prison, stake or scaffold can no longer silence the voice of the protesting minority, progress moves on a step, but not until then.

Movements are not radical. Movements are the American way. A small group of abolitionists writing and speaking eventually led to the end of slavery. A few stirred-up women brought about women's voting. The Populist movement, the Progressive movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the women's movement - the examples go on and on of 'little people' getting together and telling the truth about their lives. They made our government act.

I suffered first as a child from discrimination, poverty ... So I think it was a natural follow from that that I should use my camera to speak for people who are unable to speak for themselves.

To feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the harborless without also trying to change the social order so that people can feed, clothe and shelter themselves is just to apply palliatives. It is to show a lack of faith in one’s fellows, their responsibilitie s as children of God, heirs of heaven.

I have news for the forces of greed and the defenders of the status quo: your time has come - and gone. It's time for change in America.

In an excess of examples, the walk to globalization has additionally implied the minimization of women and young ladies. What's more that must change.

Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across America that have been ignored, neglected and abandoned.