Debra Granik Quotes

No change can come if those who are impacted the most by discrimination are not willing to stand up for themselves.

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will.

The camera could be a very powerful instrument against discrimination, against poverty, against racism.

There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too long endured that we are not determined to abolish.

Speaking out is important for me because everyone should be treated equally.

For as long as I can remember, I've always been interested in issues of social justice, political freedom, and civil rights.

Civil rights happened because youth got involved. The youth stood up and helped to break the pattern that their parents had got accustomed to living. The next generation has to take that stand for whatever it is, socially, that they are involved in.

Where I come from, if you see your family and friends' civil rights being taken away, you speak up and do everything you can to keep that from happening!

Look at the Civil Rights Movement. Look at any kind of fight for change. People had to keep fighting and taking their rights. Rights are never given to you. They have to be fought for and they have to be taken.

Writing is powerful. Whether it's a little girl hiding from the Nazis in an attic, or Amnesty International writing letters on behalf of political prisoners, the power of telling stories is usually what causes change.

You want to shut up every Negro who has the courage to stand up and fight for the rights of his people, for the rights of workers, and I have been on many a picket line for the steelworkers too.

Security isn't what I hunger for. I hunger for change. I hunger for connection.

You may hiss as much as you please, but women will get their rights anyway. You can’t stop us, neither

It was imperative to make common cause with the oppressed in order to secure a new system opposed to the ambitions and governing habits of the oppressors.

People and systems count on our silence to keep us exactly where we are.... in a world that wants us to whisper, I choose to yell.

The civil rights fight was a very important fight.

MLK, Jr. taught me how to say no to segregation, and I can hear him saying now... when you straighten up your back, no man can ride you. He said stand up straight and say no to racial discrimination.

If it wasn't for so many brave people standing up, speaking out, and fighting for equal rights, we might not have all of the luxuries of freedom that we have today. So many unsung people fought for us to be able to live together in harmony no matter how different we are from one another.

I want to thank the fans across the country who have supported me in this effort to fight for equality and justice. I want to thank those that have dedicated their lives to this fight, as I know that it is not easy. And I want to challenge those who stay silent to be courageous and use your platforms to become part of the solution. God Bless.

You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.

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.

Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them is the strongest force we have to change the world.

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

The inability of those in power to still the voices of their own consciences is the great force leading to change.

I'm not sure I'm trying to communicate a message. I'm just trying to be part of the movement away from the unacceptable present.