Quotes About Activism

I had never considered myself a political guy, but there are certain things I can't shut up about. When I hear people say things like, 'If 'we' allow gays to marry, then people will want to marry animals and children,' I can't just stand there.

There's a long history and a pattern of Black athletes - and Black people, period - being told to shut up and accept whatever it is they're given.

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

My dad was very much a Pan-Africanist and instilled in me and my siblings a want for that knowledge.

I look at books as being a form of activism. Sometimes they'll show us a side of the world that we might not have known about.

At the end of the day, the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott had to be converted into the 1964 Civil Rights Act. We don't want politicians who've gotta be coaxed, cajoled and protested. We want them on our side from the beginning.

California Democrats - we fight on the front lines - we don't equivocate on the sidelines.

It was precisely my love of the First Amendment that made me join sidewalk activists in 2010 to support an Islamic community center's right to open in Lower Manhattan.

The Sierra Club in the United States has now really come out for population control and reduction.

I'm on the board of the Sierra Club Foundation and am myself a big environmentalist. But the way to make the biggest difference is to change mainstream behavior.

The Sierra Club is a very good and a very powerful force for conservation and, as a matter of fact, has grown faster since I left than it was growing while I was there! It must be doing something right.

From high school, you can see my Sierra Club card - I've been a member since 1979. That gives you an indication of early interest.

Some say we should not engage in activism. Instead we should leave everything to our politicians and just vote for a change instead. But what do we do when there is no political will? What do we do when the politics needed are nowhere in sight?

I didn't just want to be a poster boy and sign on to publicize somebody else's method of operations. If I was going to put myself out there, I wanted to make sure that it was to an end. So I got involved with this congressional hearing about Parkinson's being underfunded.

One of the hallmarks of the sign of Aquarius is the campaign for justice. Everybody is my brother. Justice is very important to me.

Fighting disparities is very significant.

A revolution simply means great change, significant change, and that's how I'm defining it - great change for the better, brought about through non-violent means.

By the 1960s, many of us believed that the Civil Rights Movement could eliminate racism in America during our lifetime. But despite significant progress, racism remains.

My mum was always extremely political. I have fond memories of making signs as a child for the nuclear disarmament protests at Greenham Common, or helping her bake cakes for them.

I have noticed encouraging signs in the fight against religious intolerance, and I am impressed by the outstanding degree of human rights activism in India.

At the women's march, we held signs that said, 'Today we march, tomorrow we run.' They didn't believe us, but it's coming to pass.

A lot of organizers tell me that while they are making signs or doing whatever they do, they are listening to the Coup.

Non-violent protests are signs of a healthy democracy, not an ailing one.

Each book I write is a shout into the silence and a prayer and a plea for change.