Martin Delany Quotes

I heard Dr. King speaking on the radio, and it seemed like he was saying, "John Robert Lewis, you too can make a contribution. You can get involved!"

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.

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.

We need to keep ringing the bell, wake people up to get our democracy together. Farm workers are like a symbol, and it is good that people are paying attention.

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

We can all become activists and raise questions.

I always saw politics as an expansion of my role as a mom.

I learnt that if I want to make any difference, or changes to my world, then I've got to be involved. We need passion - that's how things change.

A few people with a clear agenda can make a big difference in government.

There is nobody on this planet who was ever liberated by an athlete or an entertainer.

Everything hinges on education. Without it, you can't advocate for proper health care, for housing, for a civil rights bill that ensures your rights.

Abolition didn't just happen - people made it happen. Women's suffrage didn't just happen - people made it happen. Civil Rights legislation didn't just happen - people made it happen. And marriage equality didn't just happen, either - people made it happen.

LGBT people are some of the bravest and most potent change agents and leaders I have encountered, and the most forceful defenders of the vulnerable and voiceless, because they know what it's like to be there.

Even if you can't be an activist every day, when you can be, do it.

You just have to find your activism, and don't let anyone tell you what that should look like. If you're doing the work, and you're getting someone to think, you're on the right path.

As a daughter of a former NAACP chapter president, I know all too well how everyday people can change lives and create progress so many others consider 'impossible.'

Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.

The challenge is to become part of the struggle, to make a positive difference.

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

My music is made for the people who are willing to stand up to change this world themselves.

Marriage equality is a very middle-class issue and voting rights is a very working-class issue. If you do not vote, who are you speaking for? Who will be the next Fannie Lou Hamer? If not you or someone you know, then who?

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.

There's still injustice happening in my world. I sing my songs at concerts and I'm so grateful that the people are ready to hear them.

Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the struggle for equal rights.

While acting is what I do for a living, activism is what I do to stay alive.