Quotes About Activism

In many ways, I consider those to be my formative years, because when you're in school, you have a distant relationship to the world in that most of what you're learning is from books and lectures. But at Amnesty, I came face to face with realities in a very direct and harsh way.

Hate speech, racism, and bigotry are intolerable realities that we must all come together to take action against.

We are all driven by our personal realities. Otherwise you are a saint or someone who has dedicated their lives to activism.

I rallied against Clinton when he was in office. I didn't vote for him in '96. I didn't vote for Gore in 2000.

I've always had this sense of justice - I get that from my mom, for sure. When you see stuff that's wrong, it's just wrong, man. You gotta point that out.

I consider myself an activist who governs.

I realized I could make a difference. I could be their voice; I could fight for them... There's no better place to fight for working families than the governor's chair.

John Lewis inspired countless Americans across generations with a life dedicated to service and getting into 'good trouble.' He had a vision for a better America, shouldered the weight of change, and put his own safety on the line so that others could live with dignity and grace.

Our grandfathers had to run, run, run. My generation's out of breath. We ain't running no more.

Let the grassroots turn on the hate because that's the only thing that will make them do their duty.

I've been most happy to be an advocate for the kinds of grassroots things that people are doing who care about poetry.

Washington is a bubble, and there is nothing more powerful than the conservative grassroots when we are engaged and letting our voice be heard.

I just love that Free the Slaves does such a great job of gathering communities, gathering people together, and giving them the information, arming them, educating them. That's how we're going to change the world.

I grew up on Public Enemy, which had a message with great music behind it.

With all respect to Congressman Lewis, when I think about him, I always have that image in my mind when he was on the Selma Bridge. The truth of the matter is, with all that he has given towards the fight for civil rights - which we greatly appreciate - these are no longer the days of marching over the Selma Bridge.

People feel good about giving money to Greenpeace.

Greenpeace has a fast ship that could stop the whalers cold.

Madonna is a feminist and has been doing more for the cause than all the grumpy feminists, who are giving nothing back by being grumpy.

You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty.

We're all guilty of slacktivism, or of feeling like a savior for taking two seconds of your day to think about someone else.

I think there's an incredible amount of people who know not only what we're feeling but know people who have lost their lives to gun violence.

I made 'Bowling for Columbine' in the hope the school shootings would stop and that we would address the issue of how easy it is to get a gun in the United States, and tragically, those school shootings continue.

We need to vote people out of office that are perpetuating issues affecting young people, like gun violence.

When I speak out against the guns or against the big corporations, some of my friends say, 'Oh Yoko, be careful. These people have all the power.' But, you know, most people don't speak out because they are frightened.