DeRay Mckesson Quotes

Democracy depends on people speaking out, and in times of great crisis, on people creating a commotion.

I certainly was one of the instigators in the 1960s of freedom of expression.

Civil disobedients are nothing but the latest form of voluntary association, and that they are thus quite in tune with the oldest traditions of the country.

We are on the threshold of a significant breakthrough, and the greatest weapon is the mass demonstration.

Art morphs with what's going on in the world. We say 'Ferguson'; we don't say 'Mike Brown.' Just like we say 'Selma,' not 'Jimmie Lee Jackson.' There is something startling about the people in a particular place, a city or a small town, rising up and taking to the streets.

I remember back in the 1960s - late '50s, really - reading a comic book called 'Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Story.' Fourteen pages. It sold for 10 cents. And this little book inspired me to attend non-violence workshops, to study about Gandhi, about Thoreau, to study Martin Luther King, Jr., to study civil disobedience.

Different people were complaining, and I remember saying, 'Why don't we just demonstrate?' The Whitney was the first.

My mum taught me the power of protest.

In recent years, many seem to have spent their lives protesting. Perhaps they have felt to do this because they have felt repressed or wished to bring about change or have acted out of selfish reasons, thinking that if they tore the house down they might end up with a shingle.

Mass civil disobedience can use rage as a constructive and creative force.

It is my hope that people today will see that, in another time, in another period, when we saw the need for people to speak up, to organize, to mobilize, and to do something about injustice, we came together.

If the government or the parties won't address our needs, we will. It's about direct action, even civil disobedience.

It is in the American tradition to stand up for one's rights--even if the new way to stand up for one's rights is to sit down.

We should not forget that our tradition is one of protest and revolt, and it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past ... while we silence the rebels of the present.

This is what people do in America. They get out. They demonstrate. They let their voices with heard.

I think direct political action, civil disobedience, in particular, is something to be taken very seriously.

I was involved in some peaceful protests.

King consciously steered away from legal claims and instead relied on civil disobedience.

Airbnb is a much more effective protest than shutting down the Brooklyn Bridge.

Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.

History shows that all protest movements rely on symbols - boycotts, strikes, sit-ins, flags, songs. Symbolic action on whatever scale - from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to wearing a simple wristband - is designed to disrupt our everyday complacency and force people to think.

Yet what you need is not marches, demonstrations, rallies or wide associations, all of them are important. What you need is direct action. The sooner people understand that, the sooner we'll begin to change things.

We will not allow this day of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to go without somebody going to jail.

Direct action means resort to non-constitutional methods that can take any form which many suit the conditions under which we live. We cannot eliminate any methods.

Protest is when I say this does not please me. Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more.