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Quote by Jess Phillips

“Wherever there is power imbalance, such as exists between men and women, white and black people, rich and poor, boss and employee, then that power can breed oppressive behaviour. Silence and acceptance from the weaker player is the grease that keeps these wheels turning.”

Quote by Jess Phillips

Book:Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.
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Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.

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Jess Phillips

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“Don't you understand man? The slogans of capitulation can KILL! Every time we say "Live and let live"--death triumphs! Too much has happened, too much has happened to me. . . . That which warped and distorted all of us is--all around: it is in this very air! This swirling, seething, madness that you ask us all to help maintain! It's no good, Wally--your world. It's no--damn--good! You have forced me to take a position. Finally -- the one thing I never wanted to do. Just being for you is not enough. To live, to breathe--I've got to be against you.”

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Book:The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
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“There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light, and normal traffic had better get out of its way. Or, when a man is bleeding to death, the ambulance goes through those red lights at top speed. There is a fire raging now for the Negroes and the poor of this society. They are living in tragic conditions because of the terrible economic injustices that keep them locked in as an "under-class," as the sociologists are now calling it. Disinherited people all over the world are bleeding to death from deep social and economic wounds. They need brigades of ambulance drivers who will have to ignore the red lights of the present system until the emergency is solved.”

ActivismNonviolence
Book:The Trumpet of Conscience
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“Do you need more data? Do not assume the need for more data -- enough evidence of a problem might already exist to justify the need for action. Also explore who is already engaged in data practices on the topic to see if resources could support existing initiatives rather than create something afresh. The collection, analysis and use of data are resource-intensive. Before work begins, you therefore need to ask if this is the best use of time, resources and energy to address injustices that face LGBTQ people.”

ActivismDataLgbtqData Analysis
Book:Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action
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“Do you elevate LGBTQ lives and critically examine the invisibility of majority characteristics? One of data’s strengths is its power to tell stories, which can shifts hearts and minds and encourage others to take action. However, increased visibility alone is not enough. A queer approach also problematizes the distinction between the center and the margins so the invisibility of majority identity characteristics, such as cis and heterosexual, are brought into focus and critically examined.”

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Book:Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action
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“Are your ways of working open, accessible and transparent? Traditional approaches to quantitative data collection and analysis are misunderstood as an objective account of reality; an assumption that masks decisions made throughout the design process. A queer approach to data is also influenced by biases and assumptions; those engaged in queer data practices therefore need to describe how decisions are made, in accessible language, and its effect on the results presented. Openness about the limitations of data helps ensure that an undercount or misrepresentation of data about LGBTQ people is not used undermine political and social advances.”

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Book:Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action
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“Are damaging data practices and systems capable of reform? Re-evaluate your relationship to data and assess whether existing practices and systems are capable of reform. If reform seems possible, question who is best placed undertake this work. When reform fails, or efforts to reform risk keeping a damaging system alive for longer, consider if an abolitionist approach might put data in the hands of those most in need.”

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“Whether on a big global platform or just in your office, speaking truth to power is not necessarily done so that the powerful change; it is rarely that simple. Speaking truth to power is, in fact, mostly for the ears of the oppressed. It speaks to everyday people, offers them the comfort that they are not alone and gives them hope that things can change. A small act of personal resistance viewed by someone else changes the way that they feel about speaking up themselves.... Speaking truth to power has the effect of activation and solidarity”

PoliticsActivismInequalityProtest
Book:Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.
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