Cornel West Quotes

The great appear great because we are on our knees: Let us rise.

Not only was I not born to be a slave; I was not born to hope to become the equal of the slave master.

A thousand men enslaved fear one beast free.

Silence is the first thing within the power of the enslaved to shatter. From that shattering, everything else spills forth.

To those who had ordered them to death, one of them said: “We die because the people are asleep and you will die because the people will awaken.”

Tremble, all ye oppressors of the world!

They have learned that resistance is actually possible. The holds are beginning to slip away.

Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number — Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you — Ye are many — they are few.

The story of everyday people rising up to fight against evil to protect their families - it's a story that we've seen play out throughout history and across the world today.

It’s a new world, brother. And we, the downtrodden, are taking it back. (Madoc)

A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.

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.

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

When we have but the will to do it, that very moment will Justice be done: that very instant the tyrants of the Earth shall bite the dust.

The only way I can pay back for what fate and society have handed me is to try, in minor totally useless ways, to make an angry sound against injustice.

If you are not their slaves, you are rebels.

People resist exploitation. They resist as actively as they can, as passively as they must.

You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

I'm not going to sit around and be peace and love with somebody's boot on my neck.

We're not trying to take power away or rule anybody - we're just trying to get up from under the rulers.

What then did you expect when you unbound the gag that muted those black mouths? That they would chant your praises? Did you think that when those heads that our fathers had forcibly bowed down to the ground were raised again, you would find adoration in their eyes?

If given a choice, I would have certainly selected to be what I am: one of the oppressed instead of one of the oppressors.

We continue to resist the occupier militarily, culturally and by all means of the resistance.

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

Treachery is noble when aimed at tyranny.