Quotes about Activism

My father was a deeply committed humanitarian. He was a fighter for social justice. He was spirited in the deepest sense.

Freedom only comes through persistent revolt, through persistent agitation, through persistently rising up against the system of evil.

I'm not trying to get power over white. I'm involved in a freedom struggle. Not a power struggle.

Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.

The quietly pacifist peaceful always die to make room for men who shout

I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin' hell, but as long as they ain't free, I ain't free.

The Negro's great stumbling block in the drive toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Once you become dedicated to a cause, personal security is not the goal. What will happen to you personally does not matter. My cause, my race, is worth dying for.

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

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.

Ordinarily, a person leaving a courtroom with a conviction behind him would wear a somber face. But I left with a smile. I knew that I was a convicted criminal, but I was proud of my crime.