“There are real possibilities of reaching many of the Trump voters: many of them in fact voted for Obama, believing his rhetoric about "change," and upon realizing that they were deluded, have turned to Trump. And will find that they are again deluded. That's an opportunity that can be grasped, by organizing, education, activism right now.” BelieveRealFactsOpportunityRealizingPossibilityTrumpRight NowActivismReachingVotersRhetoricDeluded Author:Noam Chomsky
“Social media and young people, art, music, all communications make this one of the most active times for activism. It will be a time of change.” PeopleArtYoungSocialMediaCommunicationSocial MediaActiveActivismArt Music Author:Neil Young
“Thank George Michael for your radical activism in the LGBTQ community! Love you always!” CommunityLove YouActivismRadicalAlways Love You Author:Miley Cyrus
“Another recollection is that [ Paul Johnson] mostly kept away from ideas and dedicated activism, and concentrated on sex lives and other gossip.” IdeasSexActivismGossipDedicatedJohnsonRecollection Author:Noam Chomsky
“I think, broadly speaking, the US military's role - US military activism in various parts of the Islamic world over the past several decades has been counterproductive.” ThinkingWorldHas BeensPastRolesMilitaryVariousDecadesActivismIslamicOver The PastCounterproductiveUs Military Author:James Mattis
“Sometimes that irrational commitment to principle is what society needs to survive. Whenever you talk about radicalism, whenever you talk about activism, whenever you talk about progressive activity, that sort of moves the measure of liberty in human society forward, makes us all enjoy a better standard of liberty, it typically starts out criminal. It typically starts out a little bit shaky, and rather radical. And that's irrational to put yourself up to do that.” NeedsHumansLittlesSometimesMovingBitsEnjoyLibertyPrinciplesActivityLittle BitStandardsCommitmentActivismCriminalsRadicalProgressiveIrrationalHuman SocietyRadicalism Author:Edward Snowden
“No sane human being devotes 100% of his or her life to political activism.” HumansPoliticalHuman BeingsActivismSanePolitical Activism Author:Noam Chomsky
“The South actually has a very strong tradition of activism. The civil rights movement came from down here! It was black activists demanding that their voices be heard. People say these are red states. No they're not!” PeopleStatesStrongBlackVoiceRightsHeardMovementRedTraditionSouthActivismCivil RightsActivistVery StrongCivil Rights Movement Author:John Darnielle
“What we all have to know is the struggle is long. It's long. It may not end in our lifetimes. But the struggle is what gives our lives meaning and purpose. I tell people to take time out of activism every day to take care of their bodies, to take care of their souls and spirits.” PeopleKnowsGivingMayLongSoulEndsBodyCareSpiritPurposeStruggleOur LivesLifetimeTake CareActivismMeaning Of LifeTake TimeLife Means Author:Eve Ensler
“Culture and politics were inseparable [in the Sixties], which gave a soundtrack to political awareness and activism.” PoliticalCultureAwarenessActivismSixtyInseparableSoundtracksPolitical Awareness Author:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“Where's the activism? Nobody knows. And anyone who thinks they know, like Todd Gitlin, has their head up their ass. Nobody knows. The day before every revolution that's ever happened, that revolution was impossible. The day before Rosa Parks, that was impossible. The day after, it was inevitable.” ThinkingKnowsImpossibleHappenedRevolutionActivismAssInevitableParksNobody KnowsHeads UpRosa Author:Bill Ayers
“I don't know why there's not more activism today. I do think that your generation is twenty times smarter than our generation ever was, but the problem with being smart like you guys is that it can lead you really easily to being cynical, and cynicism is actually a pacifying attitude.” ThinkingKnowsProblemTodayGuyAttitudeGenerationsLike YouSmartTwentiesActivismCynicalCynicismSmarterBeing SmartOur Generation Author:Bill Ayers
“The Tea Party thing is only apt in some ways. The activism in the town halls, that looks superficially like it. But what the Tea Party did was, they went after the party, the Republican Party, as their vehicle. And parties is how you change history.” WayLooksPartyRepublicanTownsActivismTeaHallsVehicleRepublican PartyTea Party Author:Mark Shields
“Democrats can have a different version of the line, or they can just say, no, we are the party of international peace and activism, and we're the party that's going to have a civilized capitalism.” DifferentLinesPartyCapitalismDemocratInternationalActivismVersionsCivilizedInternational PeaceJust Say No Author:Mark Shields
“Basically, global capitalism, basically to support it, or is it to be opposed? Is international order to be supported, or is it to be opposed? Republicans have taken a very clear line. Democrats can have a different version of the line, or they can just say, no, we are the party of international peace and activism, and we're the party that's going to have a civilized capitalism.” DifferentOrderLinesPartySupportTakenClearRepublicanCapitalismDemocratInternationalActivismVersionsCivilizedInternational PeaceJust Say No Author:David Brooks
“I realized I was gay when I was a teenager and I couldn't imagine what it meant to be a gay adult. I just did the next thing that seemed right, and that led me from activism to media to the kind of media I'm in now. But I like where I've ended up.” KindNextImagineMediaGayAdultsActivismI RealizedTeenagerMeant To Be Author:Rachel Maddow
“My idea of what was going on in politics was driven by activism. I came out when I was 17, and right away I started working in the AIDS activist movement. For me, politics was about getting drugs approved and getting prisoners access to the same kind of drugs that you could get on the outside. It was about getting needle exchanges approved. That was politics. These were policy problems that were killing people, and we were trying to get them changed.” PeopleTryingKindIdeasProblemPolicyMovementChangedDrugKillingDrivenActivismAidsAccessActivistPrisonerNeedlesApproved Author:Rachel Maddow
“There are some political issues where mainstream press attention only hurts. We think about activism as being this generic model of consciousness-raising, then hopefully media attention, attraction of new people to your cause, building public support for your cause, then decision-makers reacting to that change in public opinion. That's true for some types of activism, but it is not true for all of them.” PeopleThinkingPoliticalCausesHurtDecisionAttentionConsciousnessOpinionSupportIssuesMediaBuildingTypeModelsPressesAttractionActivismHopefullyMakersMainstreamPublic OpinionReactingGenericDecision MakersPolitical Issues Author:Rachel Maddow
“People who have come of age from the '80s on have experienced a form of activism that's very sterile and annoying. It's not that much fun to be an activist. That's partly by design. They are sterile protests and anonymous e-mail activism - not the kind of thing where people fall in love, form friendships for life, and see the change they make right in front of them. I've seen that, when people start to experience doing these things together and the power that it has.” PeopleKindAgeTogetherFormFallFunFrontsDesignFalling In LoveActivismProtestActivistAnnoyingMail80s Author:Naomi Wolf
“My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad. If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do. So my position leads not to apathy but to hyper - and pessimistic - activism.” IfsDangerousPositionActivismApathyPessimisticHyper Author:Michel Foucault
“I think the activism of the 1960s had a very definite civilizing effect on the whole society in all kinds of ways. So lots of things that by now are almost taken for granted were heretical in the 1960s. We had anti-sodomy laws until not many years ago.” ThinkingWayYearsKindWholeLawTakenEffectsYears AgoActivismAll KindsGrantedDefinite1960sTaken For Granted Author:Noam Chomsky
“There`s a reason people pause their lives to engage in political activism and pressure their local political leaders. Because as a whole, even if you can`t identify any one instance, as a whole pressure works and sometimes it starts with something as simple as pushing the button on the intercom.” PeopleIfsSometimesReasonWholePoliticalSimpleLeaderPressureActivismLocalsInstancePushingButtonsPausesPolitical LeadersPolitical Activism Author:Rachel Maddow
“We have never had class-based parties. We've had parties run by the business classes. There's slight variations. Like in the New Deal period, there was a lot of popular activism, so things shifted slightly, but not much.” RunningPartyActivism Author:Noam Chomsky
“Under the right conditions, gay people can become politicians and be in control of their lives in a much broader way through activism.” PeoplePoliticianGayActivismGay People Author:Daayiee Abdullah
“Non-violent ecological activism, scientific research and art are pillars of my experience. But I am also a story-teller. I merge science, and my passion for literature whenever possible if it helps me to wrestle demons, and to more effectively communicate what I believe to be most important to our lives.” BelieveArtImportantHelpingPassionLiteratureI BelieveCommunicateActivismDemonHelp MeMy PassionEcologicalScientific Research Author:Michael Tobias
“Activism spawned by Sanders campaign is beginning to make inroads into electoral politics. Under Barack Obama, the Democratic Party pretty much collapsed at the crucial local and state levels, but it can be rebuilt and turned into a progressive force. That would mean reviving the New Deal legacy and moving well beyond, instead of abandoning, the working class and turning into Clintonite New Democrats, which more or less resemble what used to be called moderate Republicans, a category that has largely disappeared with the shift of both parties to the right during the neoliberal period.” MeanMovingPartyRepublicanDemocraticDemocratActivismBarackLegacyProgressiveWorking ClassDemocratic Party Author:Noam Chomsky
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” MenLifeInspirationalMomentsWisdomMotivationalPeaceWomenChallengesLeadershipInspiringLeaderKingsComfortDeterminationStandingUltimateAdversityActivismRecoveryCivil RightsAfrican AmericanPatrioticActivistGraduationBad AssControversyTough TimesConvenienceBad DayGreat LeaderBaptistsDrug AddictionDrug AddictOvercoming ChallengesWorld LeaderRecoveringBeing A LeaderLeadership By Famous LeadersBest LeaderMotivational LeadershipAddiction RecoveryPeace Not WarChallenge YourselfWhere You Are GoingOutstanding LeadershipIntegrity And CharacterTimes Of AdversityIntegrity CharacterMeasure Of A ManKings SpeechBorn LeadersDrug Addiction RecoveryKings And LoveGood KingsOutstanding LeadersWhen Life Is HardInspirational Addiction RecoveryObstacles And ChallengesInspirational RecoveryDrug RecoveryMotivational RecoveryInspirational Drug RecoveryLeadership And ServiceCivil Rights LeadersLeadership StyleMost EncouragingDaily ChallengesTrue Measure Of A ManUltimate Motivational Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
“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 the law.” RealityMotivationalLawPoliticalOrderIndividualCommunityLibertyAcceptingBreakAcceptanceWillingKingsHighestRespectConscienceInjusticeLibertarianActivismAfrican AmericanProtestPenaltiesUnjustDissentDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceImprisonmentPeace And JusticeIndividual RightsPeace JusticeLibertarian PartyEquality And JusticeLiberty And JusticeDignity And RespectGood KingsJustice And InjusticeUnjust LawsJustice EqualityUnjust War Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
“It's not like activist work is a nice add-on to what's really important, the spiritual work. The two are inseparable and it goes both ways. Many people are hardcore activists for decades, and they encounter burnout, futility, or a feeling of imbalance. Sometimes they need to go so far as to drop their activism and go on a spiritual journey. They're realizing that all the stuff they're trying to change in the world isn't just out there in the world. It's in them, too. And as long as they're blind to what's in them, they're going to continually re-create it in all that they do.” PeopleWorldTryingLongImportantSometimesFeelingsSpiritualRealizingNiceJourneyBlindActivismActivistInseparableFutilitySpiritual JourneyHardcoreTrying To Change Author:Charles Eisenstein
“We have to create conditions where people feel safe to feel and to care. That goes against a lot of our programming about how to make something change in the world. Sometimes you can pressure people into changing, you can force them, but the powers-that-be have more force than we do. I don't think we're going to win in a contest of force. I think we need to induce a change of heart. The narrative of "us versus them" is ultimately part of the problem. Traditional activism, which is about overcoming the latest bad guy, isn't deep enough. It just brings us another version of the same.” PeopleThinkingWorldHeartSometimesEnoughProblemCareGuyWinningOvercomingActivismThings ChangeChange Of Heart Author:Charles Eisenstein
“I remember at the time - right before we started Feministing.com - doing a Google search for the term "young feminism" and the term "young feminist," and the first thing that came up was a page from the National Organization for Women that was about 10 or 15 years old. And it just struck me as so odd that there was all of this young feminist activism going on, but that it wasn't necessarily being represented online, that the first things in a Google search to come up were really, really old. I think to a certain degree we really filled a gap, and that's why we got such a large readership.” ThinkingRememberTermFeminismFeministActivismOddOnlineGoogle Author:Jessica Valenti
“Films can't change the society, they can simply open the space for the discussion which can lead to social change and can start new forms of social activism. I feel formally that I've scratched the surface of something very important about the nature of nonfiction film, about what we're very rarely honest about: When you film anybody, they start performing.” ImportantFilmHonestActivismDiscussionPerformingSocial Change Author:Joshua Oppenheimer
“I think a culture can really be elevated through the arts, and it's always a dream come true when I come across roles that enable me to fuse my love of storytelling with my passion for activism and raising social awareness.” ThinkingArtDreamCulturePassionAwarenessActivismStorytellingDreams Come TrueMy Passion Author:Nazanin Boniadi
“Right now, American government has stepped back from offering any kinds of protection for human rights and public health. And the fossil fuel industry thinks that they have just absolute free rein to go for it. The one thing in the way is public opposition. It's civil society. It's activism.” ThinkingKindHuman RightsProtectionActivismFossil FuelPublic HealthCivil SocietyAmerican Government Author:Annie Leonard
“The fact is that there's hundreds of thousands of incredibly motivated, active political partisans working on the blogs. These people generate buzz, it generates local activism. These aren't the kind of people that pay attention a little to politics, turn it off and then do something else. They live and breathe politics. And anybody that wants to build a movement or a successful campaign needs people like the people who read blogs.” PeopleKindPoliticalAttentionSuccessfulBreatheActivismPay AttentionMotivated Author:Markos Moulitsas
“One should be cautious about "general conceptions." I think a strong case can be made that activism today is as high as ever, perhaps more so, and is also taking new and significant forms. There has never been anything like the international solidarity movements that began to take shape in the 1980s, right in the mainstream, or the global justice movements that have become a very powerful force in later years. It's true that the society is highly atomized, which does induce a sense of hopelessness often - quite mistakenly I think.” ThinkingTodayStrongJusticePowerfulActivismSignificantSolidarityHopelessnessCautiousVery PowerfulBe Cautious Author:Noam Chomsky
“I want to make activism a bigger part of my life, while hopefully maintaining the opportunity to help out causes that I really care about. And being an actor allows me to do that. Shooting a Cisco commercial allows me to do that. I mean, doing all these things allows me to talk about these issues. But don't think there aren't those moments where I'm like, "What am I doing? I have to quit my job and chain myself to a tree." Believe me, I have those moments.” ThinkingBelieveMeanMomentsHelpingCareOpportunityTreeActivismQuittingHopefullyBelieve In Me Author:Ellen Page
“When we, hijras, started our activism, we had to tell people, "We exist, we are humans. Please give us nothing but our basic dignity." The biggest misery in the world, I believe, is the feeling of being unloved, and that this community faces a lot. You're not even considered to be human. You're considered transparent. We were ignored until we started organizing, when HIV first became a factor. Even in the HIV world, people could not believe that hijras have sex. And then also we were put in the category of men having sex with men, the gay community.” PeopleMenWorldGivingBelieveFeelingsI BelieveCommunityGayDignityMiseryActivismIgnoredUnloved Author:Laxmi Narayan Tripathi
“Let me see: art and activism. I can always fall back on, "the question should be, what isn't political? Everything you do is political, even if it's abstract. You're making a political statement even if it's unwittingly." I think so much of art is unconscious anyway, the artist doesn't know the real reason they're doing it. They're just kind of going along with it intuitively.” ThinkingKindArtRealReasonPoliticalArtistFallArt IsLet MeActivismAbstractUnconsciousFall Back Author:Eric Drooker
“My reporting in Africa wouldn't be political per se, but it's certainly the point of my reporting - and of a lot of other reporters I know: Human suffering is bad, and if reporting stories about it brings it to light and someone does something, that's part of the point of journalism. And it's a thin line between that and activism, and you have to be careful about that.” PoliticalSufferingCarefulActivismJournalismBe CarefulHuman Suffering Author:Sebastian Junger
“Students typically are at a period of their lives when they're more free than at any other time. They're out of parental control. They're not yet burdened by the needs of trying to put food on the table in a pretty repressive environment, often, and they're free to explore, to create, to invent, to act, and to organize. Over and over through the years, student activism has been extremely significant in initiating and galvanizing major changes. I don't see any reason for that to change.” TryingReasonEnvironmentStudentsActivismSignificantOrganizeParental Author:Noam Chomsky
“It makes me so angry when people say, "We never hear from people who are happy doing sex work." Well, that's because they're working. The activism privileges people who hated doing sex work, are no longer doing it, and have a job at a social service organization, for example, that trains them on how to speak to the media. We are hearing from those people quite a bit.” PeopleSpeakTrainActivismHatedSocial Service Author:Melissa Gira Grant
“In terms of activism, the Trump-era transformation of news into entertainment has had a deep effect on the way that collegiate politics are perceived. Campuses are a main flashpoint of the post-2016 culture wars about free speech, racism, and elite privilege. That's undeniable.” WarCultureTermRacismTransformationActivismFree Speech Author:Vanessa Grigoriadis
“Something I have "authority" on is animal rights. If I were not already so deep into the path I've taken, deep in the woods, I would probably work with animal rights activism because that's really where my heart lies. I think our relationships with animals are sacred and horrific. I've been a vegetarian since I was sixteen. What God said we are allowed to eat anything that does not have thumbs?” ThinkingHeartLyingAnimalPathTakenMy HeartAuthorityActivismVegetarianAnimal RightsOur RelationshipHorrific Author:Lucie Brock-Broido
“Hotels are amazing spaces and platform for activism. If they placed voting booths in hotels and other space of hospitality - a lot more people would vote. Voting poll stations aren't easily accessible. These phone booths should be in more hotels and public spaces. Activism is accessibility. Bravo to the Standard for making it possible.” PeopleVoteActivismVotingHotelHospitality Author:Mickalene Thomas
“I think more and more foundations are putting resources into food activism. But I think that given the state of the economy, foundations won't be giving as much in general. For me it's about working with these existing institutions in communities that people already go to, that people trust, that they know, and determining how best they can play a role in the creation of local food systems and address the ills that are right around them in the community.” PeopleThinkingGivingCommunityEconomyCreationActivism Author:Bryant Terry
“The reason we do activism is because, maybe you haven't been raped or abused, but there are millions of people who can't say the same, and when you hear their stories you may be a little bit compelled. And it doesn't have to be dark. In the Congo, there are women who've been raped and re-raped, and they're so powerful, and they can carry trees on their heads, and they're dancing!” PeopleReasonDarkPowerfulTreeDancingActivismCongo Author:Rosario Dawson
“You know, there's a lot of activism that doesn't deal with empowerment, and you have to empower yourself in order to be relevant to any type of struggle.” KnowsOrderDealsStruggleTypeEmpowermentActivismEmpoweringRelevantEmpower Yourself Author:Talib Kweli