“I favor massive civil disobedience, among other things. It is not the only thing that is used to protest any grievance in society. But it is one of the most effective under certain conditions.” UsedCertainConditionsFavorsProtestMassiveDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceGrievance Author:William Kunstler
“There is a vast need for all types of protest today, whether it be civil disobedience, or whether it be on a - more conventional variety.” NeedsTodayTypeVarietyProtestConventionalDisobedienceCivil Disobedience Author:William Kunstler
“I think constitutional and lawful protest has a very real value.” ThinkingRealValuesProtestReal Value Author:Allard K. Lowenstein
“Breaking the United States up into a number of pieces could be very good for the integration of those new nations with the rest of the world and the international law whose primary enemy is now the United States government. I think that it would be very good for democracy, for people to be within some hundreds of miles of their nation's capital, as they are in many other countries, so that they didn't have to travel thousands of miles to protest, to exercise their First Amendment rights, but that is the current state of affairs in this overly large, imperial nation.” PeopleThinkingWorldFirstsCountryStatesGovernmentWould BeLawNationsUnitedNumbersEnemyUnited StatesDemocracyPiecesRightsExerciseVery GoodAffairInternationalCurrentsMilesPrimariesProtestAmendmentsOther CountriesIntegrationFirst AmendmentState GovernmentInternational LawUnited States GovernmentFirst Amendment Rights Author:David Swanson
“In our constitutional system, the extent of political controversies, including the protests, surrounding a given issue is utterly unrelated to the analysis of legality and should have no effect on any court.” ShouldPoliticalGivenIssuesEffectsShould HaveCourtIncludingAnalysisProtestControversyLegality Author:David B. Rivkin
“Look at how many victim groups there are. And they all happen to be Democrat constituency groups. They all are on the protest march. They're all angry; they're all enraged.” LooksHappensGroupsVictimAngryDemocratProtestMarch Author:Rush Limbaugh
“There was so much fake news in Wisconsin, that Scott Walker stuff, they had fake polls. The protests in Madison, which is where the University of Wisconsin is, perfect examples of the use of fake news, trying to make Walker - really they tried to dispirit Walker's supporters.” TryingUseStuffPerfectExampleNewsUniversityFakeProtestSupporterPollsWalkersMadisonWisconsin Author:Rush Limbaugh
“The other thing that has changed - and this is more detailed to CPAC than the general Republican Party - is they have always been an outsider, Ann Coulter, sort of protest style, a little ruder than most Republicans. And this goes back all the way to [Ronald] Reagan.” WayLittlesPartyStyleChangedRepublicanProtestOutsidersRepublican Party Author:Mark Shields
“The White House is dismissing these fiery town halls as the result of professional protesters. Well, that`s exactly how President [Barack] Obama team`s and Democrats dismissed the 2009 town halls and Tea Party protests.” WellsHousePresidentWhiteResultsPartyTeamTownsDemocratBarackTeaProtestHallsWhite HouseTea PartyPresident Barack ObamaFiery Author:Chuck Todd
“I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” WarStruggleSawsMilitaryPatriotismProtestVietnamVietnam WarMilitary ServiceGood Patriotic Author:John F. Kerry
“I actually feel pretty inspired and hopeful by the fact that protests are becoming the norm now. They're less part of fringe society and more a part of mainstream society. That's exciting. There is no fringe anymore. We should all be included.” FeelsShouldFactsBecomingExcitingInspiredHopefulProtestMainstreamNormFringeMainstream Society Author:Nelly Furtado
“By that time [1966], we did begin to get some protests [against Vietnam War]. But not from liberal intellectuals; they never opposed the war.” WarProtestVietnamVietnam War Author:Noam Chomsky
“I worry that a Trump presidency doesn't show the true face of America to the world, but I think that peaceful protest all around this country, it showed to the world who we really are.” ThinkingWorldCountryShowsAmericaFacesWorryTrumpPeacefulProtestPresidencyPeaceful Protest Author:Tim Kaine
“[Steven] Lerner's plan starts by attacking JP Morgan Chase with demonstrations on Wall Street, protests at the annual shareholder meeting, and then calls for a coordinated mortgage strike.” PlansStreetsWallMeetingsStrikesProtestAttackingDemonstrationMortgageAnnualsShareholders Author:Rush Limbaugh
“We can't continue assuming that politics is something which is decided elsewhere by distant leaders in a distant capital. Protest is insufficient too. If people who are willing to put time into demonstrations also prove willing to work on behalf of candidates in local elections - or to become candidates themselves - they will achieve far more. If all of this upheaval provokes more involvement, then we have a slim chance of ending up with more vibrant democracies eventually. The alternative, as you've hinted, is that democracy fails altogether.” PeopleIfsChanceLeaderDemocracyFailingAchieveWillingProveDecidedElectionAssumingLocalsAlternativesCandidatesProtestElsewhereProvokingBehalfInvolvementDemonstrationInsufficientSlimUpheaval Author:Anne Applebaum
“The thing that would probably surprise most people was that Dr. Martin Luther King was a very reluctant leader. He felt very shocked at times that he had been chosen for this path, but he also understood that he was chosen for this path. He had several moments of acute doubt as to if he was up for the task - when people were injured in the protests he took it very personally, let alone when they were killed.” PeopleIfsMomentsFeltLeaderPathDoubtKingsUnderstoodTasksSurpriseChosenProtestDrsShockedLutherInjuredReluctantDr Martin Luther King Author:David Oyelowo
“I was inspired by what students have done in some schools organizing walkouts protesting the lack of funding and that sort of thing. There are opportunities for students to engage in those types of protests - taking to the streets - but there is also writing poetry, writing music, beginning to express themselves, holding forums, educating each other, the whole range.” WritingDoneWholeSchoolOpportunityStreetsStudentsTypeMusic IsInspiredRangeProtestFundingForumsWriting PoetryWriting Music Author:Michelle Alexander
“The Orange Revolution in Ukraine is a good example of how people, who are robbed of their right to vote, can protest and put an end to dictatorship.” PeopleEndsExampleRevolutionVoteProtestDictatorshipOrangeUkraineGood ExamplesRight To Vote Author:Benazir Bhutto
“I don't think the state will allow people to occupy a particular space unless it feels that allowing that will end up in a kind of complacency, and the effectiveness and urgency of the protest will be lost.” PeopleThinkingFeelsKindEndsStatesLostSpaceParticularProtestAllowingEffectivenessComplacencyUrgency Author:Arundhati Roy
“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
“Why does the left protest and the right doesn't? The left is a hate group.” DoeHateLeftGroupsProtestHate Groups Author:Rush Limbaugh
“The right don't have time off to go join protest marches as a career. The left has turned that into a bought-and-paid-for, rent-a-mob type activity.” LeftCareersTypeActivityPaidProtestMarchTime Off Author:Rush Limbaugh
“There's all kinds of conservative donors. The Koch brothers are big donors. There's all kinds of them. But none of them have actively organized hate groups that run around and protest and try to upset people and get in as close as they can to their lives and the way they live them and make a nuisance of themselves. That's not how the right has always sought to win elections.” PeopleWayTryingKindBigsRunningHateWinningGroupsBrotherElectionConservativeAll KindsUpsetOrganizedProtestNuisanceDonorsHate Groups Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Violence from protesters themselves is extremely rare, but has been made into a talking point by those who stand to benefit from breaking the perceived legitimacy of organized protest and resistance. Organized, disciplined nonviolent resistance is alive and well, and we see it all around us in cities across the country.” WellsHas BeensMadeCountryCitiesTalkingAliveViolenceBenefitsResistanceOrganizedProtestLegitimacyNonviolent Resistance Author:Nate Powell
“When Vladimir Putin runs up against American power and American criticism and American leadership that reminds him of what Russia isn`t, when he runs up against people who he worries are funding his dissidents or supporting protests against him, when he runs up against criticism of the way he runs his own country, what he`s running up against is the State Department.” PeopleWayCountryStatesRunningWorryCriticismRussiaDepartmentProtestFundingPutinDissidentsAmerican LeadershipAmerican Power Author:Rachel Maddow
“Christians living in a democracy should always vote if they can. If they cannot in conscience bring themselves to vote for any of the candidates on offer (in the UK quite often there are several candidates for a parliamentary seat) they might consider deliberately spoiling the ballot paper as a sad protest which still says 'but I believe in being involved'.” IfsShouldBelieveStillsMightChristianI BelieveDemocracyInvolvedOffersPaperConscienceVoteI Believe InCandidatesSeatsProtestBallotsParliamentary Author:N. T. Wright
“For me, I'll always stand up for the disenfranchised, and I'm going to make a big point of that. I'm not a protest singer as such, you know? After the endurance course of the early 70s and 60s, I don't want to become one of them twats. But you got to learn to speak the truth.” KnowsWantBigsCoursesSpeakSingersProtestEnduranceSpeak The TruthDisenfranchised Author:John Lydon
“I think it's really important that we get rid of the idea that protest will create change.” ThinkingImportantIdeasProtest Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“The idea of protest organizing, as summarized by community organizer Saul Alinsky, is that if we put enough pressure on the government, it will do things to help people. We don't realize that that kind of organizing worked only when the government was very strong, when the West ruled the world, relatively speaking. But with globalization and the weakening of the nation-state, that kind of organizing doesn't work.” PeopleIfsWorldKindIdeasStatesEnoughHelpingGovernmentStrongNationsRealizingCommunityPressureWestProtestVery StrongGlobalizationWeakeningOrganizer Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“We have to think in a very different sense than the way we think now. We think in terms of quick fixes, that solutions will come out of a few protest demonstrations, and calling upon the government to do something. And we can keep trying to do that, and it won't work.” ThinkingWayTryingDifferentGovernmentTermCallingSolutionsProtestDemonstrationKeep TryingQuick Fixes Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“I think there are multiple ways to have your voice heard. In some cases, it's through protest and it's through going on the nightly news and talking about or denouncing every issue on which you disagree with. Other times it is quietly and directly and candidly.” ThinkingWayVoiceTalkingCasesIssuesHeardNewsProtestDisagreeMultiple Author:Ivanka Trump
“My own experience has taught me not to underestimate the power of those who protest against cruelty. I'd also say that there may be a tendency to view the animal-rights opposition in somewhat distorted fashion as a new development, as the product of a very recent enlightenment about the rights due to animals.” MayMy OwnAnimalViewsRightsFashionTaughtProductsDevelopmentEnlightenmentDuesCrueltyTendenciesOppositionProtestAnimal RightsUnderestimate Author:Bette Ford
“Today, practically every country outside the West is undergoing an intellectual, political, and cultural churning, from China to Bolivia, Egypt to Indonesia, but we haven't really had, after the 1960s, a major oppositional culture in Western Europe and America. The Occupy movement was so startling and welcome partly because it was the first such eruption of mass protests in decades.” FirstsCountryTodayAmericaPoliticalCultureHavensMovementMajorsMassIntellectualEuropeWestWesternChinaDecadesWelcomeProtestEgypt1960sIndonesiaEruptionWestern EuropeBoliviaChurningOccupy MovementEurope And America Author:Pankaj Mishra
“I never liked the philosophy that you can have everything and be everything and that something is wrong if you don't want that. I'm terrible at multitasking and find it hard to believe that no one protests this general trend of using the rhetoric of self actualization to sell you faster and faster phones and computers, BlackBerrys, etc.” IfsWantBelieveSelfHardPhilosophyTerribleComputerSellsPhonesFasterEtcProtestTrendsRhetoricSelf ActualizationHard To BelieveMultitaskingActualization Author:Elaine Equi
“We black people, as a whole, are at war we'll say with the white power structure. Not physically, but we have definite protests to win the battle.” PeopleWarWholeWinningBlackWhiteBattleStructureProtestBlack PeopleDefiniteWhite Power Author:Muhammad Ali
“It's important that people press from the outside. It's important that people are able to make change from the inside. Both of those things are important. Protest is fundamentally a political act.” PeopleImportantPoliticalProtest Author:Deray McKesson
“Here's the positive scenario: that something has been going wrong in American society. You see it in wage growth, opioid abuse, many other social indicators, as you know. Sometimes it's better to get the bad reaction to that over with quickly while your civil society still is strong and you can react and respond and protest, and you know, four or eight years from now, make another decision, and maybe it's better to have that happen in 2017 than 20 years later when some of our problems are worse and our national mood is worse.” SometimesProblemStrongGrowthDecisionAbuseMoodProtestCivil Society Author:Tyler Cowen
“Maybe, so Donald Trump didn't start the fire at this particular Chicago protest, but fanning the flames is a problem.” ProblemProtest Author:James Taranto
“The left is quick to blame Donald Trump, but who are the protesters disrupting the events? Domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers was among the demonstrators in line outside the University of Illinois, Chicago pavilion. George Soros of Moveon.org fundraise off to destruction, post Chicago. If the bad guys are the ones behind the protest, why are we giving them so much air time and credibility?” GivingGuyDestructionBlameTerroristProtestCredibility Author:Eric Bolling
“Those who seek to improve our country through peaceful protest and protected speech, I want you to know that your voice is important. Do not be discouraged by those who use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence. We will continue to safeguard your constitutional rights and to work with you in the difficult mission of building a better nation and a brighter future.” ImportantCountryActionDifficultViolenceBuildingPeacefulProtestI Want YouDiscouraged Author:Loretta Lynch
“I'm hopeful because people are ready to step up and educate people, support peaceful protest, and make their voices heard. People are motivated to make a positive difference.” PeopleSupportPeacefulHopefulProtestMotivatedEducateStep Up Author:Christian Picciolini
“Putin needs to terrorize his own elite. He is more afraid of those in his own surroundings than any protests; there are people there who are at least as critical as I am because they see up close that the system doesn't work. He wants to silence them.” PeopleSilenceProtest Author:Alexei Navalny
“In Maidan Square right now, you see thousands of Ukrainians protesting the Russian occupation of Crimea. So this is a Russian protest by Ukrainians who want their sovereignty. They want their freedom and they're protesting what Russia did in Crimea.” ProtestSovereignty Author:Kelly Ayotte
“The majority of Russians considered Pussy Riot's stunt to be an act of religious hatred, rather than criticism against the close ties between the President and the Patriarch. So yes, in many ways their message was lost in all the noise. On the other hand, Pussy Riot chose a format that would make sure they would be heard. A silent protest would have failed, or perhaps even led to harsh punishment without much interest from the world around. So they chose a form that would be noticed. Who can blame them for that?” WorldPresidentInterestReligiousCriticismHatredBlameSilentProtestHarshRiot Author:Moddi
“I was quite surprised when I started looking at the lyrics for 'Punk Prayer'. Given its brutal style, I did not expect the lyrics to be so well written and thought through. But the more I understood of it, the more I realised that this was not only a protest, it was brilliant art as well. So I decided I would try to strip away the layers that made me sceptical in the first place, and focus on the desperate beauty Pussy Riot have conceived in this song.” TryingArtSongFocusStyleBrilliantDesperateProtestBrutalRiotWell Written Author:Moddi
“I am afraid of what is happening in the West. In a way, the link between art and politics is about to snap. Music and politics, it seems, are increasingly considered to be separate domains. Music is about making peace, not conflict, they say. And, therefore, it is best to do what is considered normal and uncontroversial. Increasingly, accepting the status quo is a precondition for being considered entertainment, while protest culture is grouped alongside politics.” ArtCultureAcceptingConflictMusic IsProtestStatus QuoMaking Peace Author:Moddi
“Nelson Mandela was a terrorist. And then he wins the world peace prize and becomes president of South Africa. That's how change happens. It's very important not to differentiate protest from the democratic process.” WorldImportantWinningPresidentDemocraticTerroristProtestPrizeSouth Africa Author:Tony Benn
“I think the people marching in L.A., on college campuses around the country, aren't marching simply because Trump was a Republican president and he got elected. They're marching because the Trump campaign is very much centered on demagogic rhetoric against immigrants, against Muslim-Americans, against black protest, against sort of America's non-white community.” PeopleThinkingCountryBlackPresidentCommunityCollegeRepublicanProtestRhetoric Author:John S. Dickerson
“This is what democracy is all about. People have every right to protest whoever's in the White House, without fear of persecution. If this happened in Iran, people would be shot on the streets. This is the United States of America, and we have a First Amendment that protects this kind of speech.” PeopleKindHouseDemocracyProtectProtestPersecutionFirst Amendment Author:Michael McCaul