Powerful Quotes From Famous Civil Rights Leaders
In its wider context, the American civil rights movement stretches back centuries, from the first enslaved Africans and their descendants, to the Civil War and emancipation, and the granting of basic civil rights to newly freed citizens. The struggle, however, didn’t end there. Jim Crow laws continued to enforce racial segregation in the Southern United States, and racial discrimination and violence against Black Americans were widespread across the nation.
In the mid-1950s, the civil rights movement reached a turning point. A campaign of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience swept across the U.S., with the aim of finally abolishing discrimination, disenfranchisement, and institutional racial segregation. Inspired by those who had fought before them, men and women such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as symbols and leaders of the movement. For years, people marched and protested, held sit-ins and boycotts, often risking their lives for the cause.
By the end of the 1960s, the movement had brought about major changes in civil rights legislation, including the end of segregation laws. The struggle for equality was far from over, but progress had been made, paving the way for a more hopeful future. Here are some quotes from prominent figures in America’s long fight for civil rights — voices that have served as an inspiration from the 19th century to the present day.
This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and 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.
— Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland, in 1817 or 1818. He escaped 20 years later, became a licensed preacher, and began to attend abolitionist meetings. Over the following decades, Douglass became a prominent activist, orator, and author, best known for his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. As well as being an active campaigner for the rights of freed enslaved people and a supporter of women's suffrage, Douglass was also the first Black U.S. marshal.
The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.
— Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was born to enslaved parents in 1862. Through her bold writing and investigative journalism, she became an early leader in the civil rights movement. In the 1890s, she began to document cases of lynching in the United States, shining a light on these tragic acts of violence. Wells later became a co-founder of the NAACP.
The greatest evil in our country today is not racism, but ignorance. I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to be taught to study rather than to believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.
— Septima Poinsette Clark
Septima Poinsette Clark was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1898. Clark was not one of the most famous names in the civil rights movement, but Martin Luther King Jr. commonly referred to her as the “Mother of the Movement.” Her activism was centered on education: She played a pivotal role in the development of literacy and citizenship workshops that were vital in the fight for voting rights for Black Americans.
People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.
— Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks rose to prominence following her famous act of defiance in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, when she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. This helped inspire the Montgomery bus boycott, and Parks became a symbol of the civil rights movement.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.
— Martin Luther King Jr.
From the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the most prominent spokesman and leader of the civil rights movement. As a Baptist minister and church leader, he promoted a path of nonviolence and civil disobedience in the fight for equality, and inspired the movement with his passionate speeches. In 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism. The following year, he helped organize the influential Selma protests, a series of marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.
— Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer and civil rights activist who rose to the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, which he held from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court’s first Black American justice. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black American Vice President, used Marshall's Bible during her inauguration in 2021.
You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
— Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a controversial figure during his lifetime, often accused of inciting violence and promoting black supremacy (a position he later renounced). Despite his criticisms of Martin Luther King Jr. and mainstream activism, he became a prominent figure during the civil rights movement, and one who gave a powerful voice to Black Americans. Today, many consider him one of the most influential Black leaders in history.
Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.
— John Lewis
John Lewis’ involvement in the civil rights movement began at an early age. He met Rosa Parks when he was 17 and Martin Luther King Jr. a year later. At 23, he helped organize the March on Washington, and two years later led the first of the three Selma marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Later in life, he was elected to Congress and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020, at the age of 80.
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How does Ukraine rate?. Not fact checked:
No wonder Putin wants to invade.
Ukraine ranks...
1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores;
2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves;
2nd place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world's reserves);
2nd largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons);
2nd place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves;
3rd place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)
4th in the world by the total value of natural resources;
7th place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)
Ukraine is an agricultural country:
1st in Europe in terms of arable land area;
3rd place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world's volume);
1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil;
2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports;
3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world;
4th largest producer of potatoes in the world;
5th largest rye producer in the world;
5th place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons);
8th place in the world in wheat exports;
9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs;
16th place in the world in cheese exports.
Ukraine can meet the food needs of 600 million people.
Ukraine is an industrialized country:
1st in Europe in ammonia production;
2-е Europe's and 4th largest natural gas pipeline system in the world (142.5 bln cubic meters of gas throughput capacity in the EU);
3rd largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;
3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km);
3rd place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment;
3rd largest iron exporter in the world
4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world;
4th world's largest manufacturer of rocket launchers...
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Where is Ukraine?
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Our sociopath recants?
George Soros Blows Whistle On Chinese Genocide, Begs For Accountability
(RoyalPatriot.com )- A concerned George Soros warned in late January that China’s President Xi Jinping’s position as the Communist Party’s leader is at risk.
Speaking at a teleconference panel with the Hoover Institution on January 31, the billionaire Leftist said the Omicron variant “threatens to be Xi Jinping’s undoing” because the virus is “no longer under control” in China.
Soros said China’s COVID vaccines were designed for the original “Wuhan variant” and now the world is “struggling with other variants.” The problem Xi Jinping faces, Soros explained, is that he can’t admit this is the case “while he is waiting to be appointed for a third term.” Instead, Soros believes Xi is hiding this “guilty secret” from the Chinese people, and his only move is to impose China’s “zero-COVID” policy.
Soros is worried that the severe lockdowns associated with the “zero-COVID” policy could threaten Xi’s chances of being reinstated as the Communist Chinese Party’s leader when its National Party Congress meets this year to decide whether to give Xi a third term in office.
Soros explained that Xi has “many enemies” in China, despite his total control over the military and the surveillance state. And while nobody can publicly oppose Xi, behind closed doors “there is a fight brewing within the CCP.” He said Xi is “under attack” from those who want private enterprise to have a greater role in China’s economy.
He warned that China’s economic model based on its real estate market is unsustainable because the system is built on credit. People who are buying apartments must begin paying for them before the apartments are built and local governments receive most of their revenue from selling land “at ever-rising prices.”
A hopeful Soros added that he believes Xi has the tools available to “re-establish confidence.” The only question, however, is whether Xi will use those tools properly. He said the world should know by the second quarter of 2022, whether President Xi succeeds. But right now, Soros added, “the current situation doesn’t look promising for Xi.”
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This from a dear friend, a retired warrior, a great surgeon and West Point Graduate. A must read and a must digest! Also, a fellow memo reader:
THINK WE HAVE FORGOTTEN
1. The U.S. military has two main purposes — to deter our enemies from engaging us in warfare, and if that fails, to defeat them in combat. Deterrence is only possible if the opposing force believes it will be defeated. Respect is not good enough; fear and certainty are required.
2. To be true to its purpose, the U.S. military cannot be a mirror image of the society it serves. Values that are admirable in civilian society — sensitivity, individuality, compassion, and tolerance for the less capable — are often antithetical to the traits that deter a potential enemy and win the wars that must be fought: Conformity, discipline, unity.
Direct ground combat, of the type we must be prepared to fight, is only waged competently when actions are instinctive, almost irrationally disciplined, and wholly sacrificial when required. Consensus building, deference, and (frankly) softness have their place in polite society, but nothing about intense ground combat is polite — it is often sub-humanly coarse.
3. There is only one overriding standard for military capability: lethality. Those officeholders who dilute this core truth with civil society’s often appropriate priorities (diversity, gender focus, etc.) undermine the military’s chances of success in combat. Reduced chances for success mean more casualties, which makes defeat more likely. Combat is the harshest meritocracy that exists, and nothing but ruthless adherence to this principle contributes to deterrence and combat effectiveness
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The dangers of wokeism:
Inside the Woke Indoctrination Machine
After watching 100 hours of leaked video, we now fully grasp the danger of this ideology in schools.
By Andrew Gutmann and Paul Rossi
Last spring we exposed how two elite independent schools in New York had become corrupted by a divisive obsession with race, helping start the national movement against critical race theory. Schools apply this theory under the guise of diversity, equity and inclusion programming. Until now, however, neither of us fully grasped the dangers of this ideology or the true motives of its practitioners. The goal of DEI isn’t only to teach students about slavery or encourage courageous conversations about race, it is to transform schools totally and reshape society radically.
Over the past month we have watched nearly 100 hours of leaked videos from 108 workshops held virtually last year for the National Association of Independent Schools’ People of Color Conference. The NAIS sets standards for more than 1,600 independent schools in the U.S., driving their missions and influencing many school policies. The conference is NAIS’s flagship annual event for disseminating DEI practices, and more than 6,000 DEI practitioners, educators and administrators attended this year. Intended as professional development and not meant for the public, these workshops are honest, transparent and unfiltered—very different from how private schools typically communicate DEI initiatives. These leaked videos act as a Rosetta Stone for deciphering the DEI playbook.
The path to remake schools begins with the word “diversity,” which means much more than simply increasing the number of students and faculty of color—referred to in these workshops as “Bipoc,” which stands for “black, indigenous and people of color.” DEI experts urge schools to classify people by identities such as race, convince them that they are being harmed by their environment, and turn them into fervent advocates for institutional change.
In workshops such as “Integrating Healing-Centered Engagements Into a DEIA School Program” and “Racial Trauma and the Path Toward Healing,” we learned how DEI practitioners use segregated affinity groups and practices such as healing circles to inculcate feelings of trauma. Even students without grievances are trained to see themselves as victims of the their ancestors’ suffering through “intergenerational violence.”
The next step in a school’s transformation is “inclusion.” Schools must integrate DEI work into every aspect of the school and every facet of the curriculum must be evaluated through an antibias, antiracist, or anti-oppressive lens. In “Let’s Talk About It! Anti-Oppressive Unit and Lesson Plan Design,” we learned that the omission of this lens—“failing to explore the intersection of STEM and social justice,” for instance—constitutes an act of “curriculum violence.”
All school messaging must be scrubbed of noninclusive language, all school policies of noninclusive practices, all libraries of noninclusive books. Inclusion also requires that all non-Bipoc stakeholders become allies in the fight against the systemic harm being perpetuated by the institution. In “Small Activists, Big Impact—Cultivating Anti-Racists and Activists in Kindergarten,” we were told that “kindergartners are natural social-justice warriors.”
It isn’t enough for a school to be inclusive; it also must foster “belonging.” Belonging means that a school must be a “safe space”—code for prohibiting any speech or activity, regardless of intent, that a Bipoc student or faculty member might perceive as harmful, as uncomfortable or as questioning their “lived experience.” The primary tool for suppressing speech is to create a fear of microaggressions.
In “Feeding Yourself When You Are Fed Up: Connecting Resilience and DEI Work,” we learned techniques, such as “calling out,” that faculty and students can use to shut down conversations immediately by interrupting speakers and letting them know that their words and actions are unacceptable and won’t be tolerated. Several workshops focused on the practice of “restorative justice,” used to re-educate students who fall afoul of speech codes. The final step to ensure belonging is to push out families or faculty who question DEI work. “Sometimes you gotta say, maybe this is not the right school for you. . . . I’ve said that a lot this year,” said Victor Shin, an assistant head of school and co-chairman of the People of Color Conference, in “From Pawns to Controlling the Board: Seeing BIPOC Students as Power Players in Student Programming.”
With the implementation of diversity, inclusion and belonging, schools can begin to address the primary objectives of DEI work: equity and justice. NAIS obligates all member schools to commit to these aims in their mission statements or defining documents. Equity requires dismantling all systems that Bipoc members of the community believe to cause harm. Justice is the final stage of social transformation to “collective liberation.” The goal is to remake society into a collective, stripped of individualism and rife with reparations.
In sessions such as “Traversing the Long and Thorny Road Toward Equity in Our Schools,” “Moving the Needle Toward Meaningful Institutional Change,” “Building an Equitable and Liberating Mindset” and “Breaking the White Centered Cycle,” we learned that the only way to achieve equity and justice is to eradicate all aspects of white-supremacy culture from “predominantly white institutions,” or PWIs, as NAIS calls its member schools, irrespective of the diversity of a school’s students. Perfectionism, punctuality, urgency, niceness, worship of the written word, progress, objectivity, rigor, individualism, capitalism and liberalism are some of the characteristics of white-supremacy culture in need of elimination. In “Post-PoCC Return to PWI Normal,” DEI practitioner Maria Graciela Alcid summarized: “Decolonizing white-supremacy-culture thinking is the ongoing act of deconstructing, dismantling, disrupting those colonial ideologies and the superiority of Western thought.”
DEI was “another thing to put on the plate, and absolutely now, it is the plate on which everything sits” said teacher Gina Favre, describing her school’s transformation.
No longer are private schools focused primarily on teaching critical thinking, fostering intellectual curiosity, and rewarding independent thought. Their new mission is to train a vanguard of activists to lead the charge in tearing down the foundations of society, reminiscent of Maoist China’s Red Guards.
The danger, however, goes far beyond private schools. The same framework called diversity, inclusion, belonging, equity and justice has gained influence in public education, universities, corporate workplaces, the federal government and the military. For the sake of our children and our nation’s future, it must be dismantled.
Mr. Gutmann is founder of Speak Up for Education and a co-host of the podcast “Take Back Our Schools.” Mr. Rossi is a contributor to Legal Insurrection and co-host of Chalkboard Heresy, a channel for dissidents in education.
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