Quotes About Advocacy

The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That's all.

The Universe is on the side of Justice

A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say.

Justice too long delayed is justice denied.

When people are voiceless, they will have temper tantrums like a child who has not been paid attention to. And riots are massive temper tantrums from a neglected and voiceless people.

We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.

We've never made any gain in civil rights without constant, persistent, legal and nonviolent pressure. Don't let anybody make you feel that the problem will work itself out. For those who are telling me to keep my mouth shut, I can't do that.

As I went through this period one night I picked up an article entitled The Children of Vietnam, and I read it. And after reading that article, I said to myself, Never again will I be silent on an issue that is destroying the soul of our nation and destroying thousands and thousands of little children in Vietnam. I came to the conclusion that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak for yourself; nobody else can speak for you.

I will do everything in my power to make it so by outspoken agreement whenever proper, and determined opposition whenever necessary.

Justice at the deepest level had but few stalwart champions.

Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the wellbeing of a person or animal is at stake.

It is not enough for the church to be active in the realm of ideas; it must move out to the arena of social action.

The struggle for rights is, at bottom, a struggle for opportunities.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out, Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out, Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up for me.

First, they came for the Communists And I did not speak out because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And by then there was no one left to speak out for me

Há momentos, meu jovem, que cada um de nós deve se posicionar em prol da justiça e dos direitos humanos, ou você nunca mais se sentirá limpo outra vez.

I do what I do, and write what I write, without calculating what is worth what and so on. Fortunately, I am not a banker or an accountant. I feel that there is a time when a political statement needs to be made and I make it.

There is really no such thing as the voiceless. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.

If you are deaf, dumb, and blind to what's happening in the world, you're under no obligation to do anything. But if you know what's happening and you don't do anything but sit on your ass, then you're nothing but a punk.

There is a timbre of voice that comes from not being heard and knowing / you are not being heard / noticed only by others / not heard for the same reason.

Any world which did not have a place for me loving women was not a world in which I wanted to live, nor one which I could fight for.

Black men are not so passive that they must have Black women speak for them. Even my fourteen-year-old son knows that. Black men themselves must examine and articulate their own desires and positions and stand by the conclusions thereof. No point is served by a Black male professional who merely whines at the absence of his viewpoint in Black women's work. Oppressors always expect the oppressed to extend to them the understanding so lacking in themselves.