“All of this unrest and all the riots and all the protests, really the anger is at all of you who voted for Donald Trump and voted for Republicans. That's really the nub of it. They're angry at Trump, but Trump wouldn't be there if it weren't for you. They are angry. They feel rejected. The American people, and I've already told you how they think of Trump voters. They think Trump voters are uneducated, Deliverance types. You're fools, you're idiots, you're uneducated, you're unsophisticated, you're just an embarrassment, you're an American embarrassment.” PeopleThinkingFoolRepublicanIdiotProtestRejectedEmbarrassmentRiotDeliveranceUneducated Author:Rush Limbaugh
“I think that the most effective social protest that any artist can do would be things that come naturally and feel obvious. I think the Resist movement will continue among people who believe in science, who believe in rights for women, who believe in civil rights.” PeopleThinkingBelieveArtistObviousCivil RightsProtest Author:John Flansburgh
“It is important to show up. Showing up at marches and rallies and town halls and protests. I remember I was really quite sad from Election Night last year until Jan. 20. And then I remember waking up Jan. 21 and seeing these amazing Women's Marches across America, and I thought to myself, That's the country that I know. And that's a larger populist movement that I'm seeing than Donald Trump's relatively small populist movement. And that gave me a lot of hope and energy, and from that day forward, I've taken a view that we'll flip the House next year.” ImportantCountryRememberNightHouseEnergyTakenWake UpElectionProtestMarchPopulistAmazing Woman Author:Ted Lieu
“Freedom of speech, the right to dissent, the right to protest, that is what America is about. And politically every leader in this country and every American has got to stand up against any form of violence. That is unacceptable.” CountryLeaderViolenceProtestFreedom Of SpeechDissent Author:Bernie Sanders
“You have a right to protest. But I don't quite understand why anybody thinks it's a good idea to deny somebody else the right to express his or her point of view.” ThinkingPoint Of ViewProtest Author:Bernie Sanders
“Death is natural, and it happens early for some people. I acknowledge that, and in the next sentence, reject it, because it just sucks. It hurts. I can at the same time acknowledge it as true, and then have my protest against it.” PeopleNaturalHurtAcknowledgeProtestIt Hurts Author:Phil Elvrum
“Daniel's message of hope and help is still the good news of God's grace. We call it the gospel today. It still has the power to impact lives and transform cultures. Paul referred to the gospel as the "power of God" [Romans 1:16] and chose a word from which we derive our word "dynamite" to describe it. It's this power - not pickets, petitions, protests or politics - that's our only hope today.” HelpingTodayCultureGraceProtestPower Of GodDynamite Author:O. S. Hawkins
“The overwhelming female protest to the presidential election perhaps is an accurate indicator of how essential it is to understand women, the issues they face, and the need to address women's rights, not just nationally, but globally.” FemaleElectionPresidentialProtestOverwhelmingPresidential Election Author:Carolyn Custis James
“Okay, so here's my question: When did civility become incompatible with protest? Why do some people consider civility an antonym - anathema, even - to political action and dissent? Because, and I'm raising my voice, it's not. Have we forgotten how Mahatma Gandhi used nonviolent civil disobedience to free India from British rule and inspire civil rights movements worldwide?” PeopleActionPoliticalInspireOkayForgottenCivil RightsProtestCivilityDissentDisobedienceCivil Rights MovementCivil Disobedience Author:Steven Petrow
“I caution anyone who in their protest becomes the very thing that they're protesting against. Meaning turning to hateful speech, violating principles and ideals that are sacred in America. We need to raise our voices, but we do not need to indulge in hate.” HateProtestCautionIndulgeHateful Author:Cory Booker
“Delhi is a very maligned city, and deservedly so. Yet there's something about it. It's a secret city, it doesn't hang out its wares. It's like a very deep river. Floating right up on top are the institutions of contemporary power: government, politics, media, and then there's the bureaucracy, the diplomatic missions. But it's also the city of intellectual debate, of protest, it's the city where people from all over the country converge to express their anger. And then, underneath all that, there's this crumbling, ancient city, a confluence of so much history.” PeopleCountrySecretIntellectualAncientDebateProtestHanging OutBureaucracyVery DeepDiplomatic Author:Arundhati Roy
“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.
“We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.” ActionAliveDirectCreatorSurfaceTensionProtestDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceDirect Action Book:Why We Can't Wait Source: Why We Can't Wait
“We as a society have created rules and laws and systems that not only are transphobic and homophobic but they’re also racist and they’re sexist. Because we’re all brought up in the middle of that, whether we want to admit it or not, we’re all on some level racist and sexist and homophobic and transphobic. It makes it difficult for other people when we turn a blind eye to it. We don’t agree with the laws that are going, but we don’t vote against them. We don’t like what our leaders are doing, but we don’t pick up the phone and call them. We don’t stand up and protest.” PeopleEyeDifficultLeaderVoteAgreeBlindProtestRacistSexistHomophobic Author:Jeff Varner
“What has happened to protesters in the past was that, basically, the government in 2012 put an end to a series of mass protests by changing laws, by making it possible to arrest anybody for protests, and by making basically a show of imprisoning not just protest leaders, and not specifically protest leaders, but activists, rank-and-file protest participants. That gets across the idea that anybody who joins a protest without being an organizer, without being a visible leader, risks arrest, and not risks just arrest, but years in a Russian jail.” PastLeaderRiskProtestActivist Author:Masha Gessen
“It is the first time since 1993 that Russians have come out into the streets without an explicit permission from the government to do so. The main difference between the protests of 2011-2012 and these protests today is that they didn't have permits. These were - the people who were coming out into the streets were very young people, for the most part, who knew that they were all risking arrest. It's an extraordinary event.” PeopleTodayFirst TimeExtraordinaryProtestExplicit Author:Masha Gessen
“American election was really personal for Putin because he believed that Clinton is a personal enemy. He genuinely believed she was behind the Moscow protests in 2012, 2011.” EnemyElectionClintonProtest Author:Andrei Soldatov
“I think, you know, that Trump has been incredibly divisive. I think he's insulted almost every group in America. I think his policies are outrageous. But in America, people have a right to hold rallies. So I think my own feeling is it is absolutely appropriate for thousands of people to protest at a Trump rally, but I am not great fan of disrupting rallies.” PeopleThinkingFeelingsPolicyProtestInsulted Author:Bernie Sanders
“People have a right to give a speech. And people have a right to protest. But I'm not a great fan of disrupting people's speeches.” PeopleGivingProtest Author:Bernie Sanders
“One lesson is to not to play desperately if your position is worse but still reasonable. Lashing out wildly in an inferior position usually only hastens defeat. Meanwhile, solid, stubborn defense can demoralize the attacker, make him lose confidence. When that happens, the tables can turn. Keep fighting, stay steady, keep morale high - and public protests are good for all of these things.” FightingDefeatProtestSteadyStubbornMorale Author:Garry Kasparov
“If you're going to point out the ridiculousness of a rule, it's naïve to think that you can break it. It's the same way that rappers have embraced capitalism. Some people say they liked it better when rap was a literal protest form in the '90s. But I think it's more a form of protest today, because it's telling the story of what happens once something forbidden is within reach. I think rap is more political today when it speaks about luxury watches than it does about fighting the power.” PeopleThinkingTodayPoliticalFightingSpeakBreakCapitalismRapProtestRapperForbidden Author:Chilly Gonzales
“I'm trying to make a primitive painting. I'm trying to summon the archaic. I want to enter into a primitive situation. This is my protest against the sensory deprivation that we experience, which is due to this tendency towards globalization, towards homogenization, towards the generic - a technological standard rather than an aesthetic standard. I'm mining history, trying to regenerate a pictorial situation that is more humanistic. It's not about commodification, it's not about fitting into some sort of corporate structure. It's opposed to that direction.” TryingSituationPaintingProtestAestheticPrimitiveTechnologicalGlobalizationFittingMiningHumanistic Author:Philip Taaffe
“Growing up in the '80s, questions of style and music and youth culture all seemed inherently political - like gay rights issues, dressing up, wearing makeup, arms protests. A lot of attitude and opinions were expressed through clothes, and they all were meaningful. So in that way, I was so excited about the connection between our private lives and politics - who I kiss, how I like to dance.” PoliticalCultureAttitudeOpinionGrowing UpStyleYouthGayKissingExcitedMeaningfulMakeupProtestGay Rights Author:Wolfgang Tillmans
“Google is reeling right now. This is the kind of thing, this is the kind of charge that just sends leftists up the tree, that they're unfair, that they're discriminating on the basis of gender. Ladies, tell Google to prove it to you that the guy who wrote the memo is wrong. What you say to Google is, "Show me the money." Go for the money. Tell 'em you want money. Tell 'em you want raises. Tell Google to prove it. Don't join the protest march and start throwing underwear and bras. Just demand the money. They're reeling right now. Hit 'em!” KindGuyTreeProveGenderProtestMarchGoogleUnfairShow MeProve It Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Whenever Muslim women protest and ask for their rights, they are silenced with the argument that the laws are justified under Islam. It is an unfounded argument. It is not Islam at fault, but rather the patriarchal culture that uses its own interpretations to justify whatever it wants. It utilizes psychology to say that women are emotional. It utilizes medical science to say that men's brains are formed in such a way that they are better able to understand concepts. These are all hypotheses. None of this has been proven.” CultureBrainPsychologyEmotionalArgumentIslamMedicalJustifyProtestJustified Author:Shirin Ebadi
“Furthermore, the financial and social investment in prisons means that black and brown youth become, essentially, fodder for the machinery of capitalized incarceration. The steady supply of guns in the U.S. makes an already untenable situation even more dangerous, and all of us must raise our voices, write to Congress, hit the streets in protest, attend budget meetings of local municipalities - all to state our opposition to such criminal procedures and practices for our youth.” WritingMeanBlackSituationDangerousYouthGunPrisonMeetingsInvestmentFinancialProtestSteadyIncarceration Author:Michael Eric Dyson
“A lot of the commercial expression of hip-hop leaves a lot to be desired - but then, there's a lot of whack gospel music, but I'm not leading a crusade against it. Of course, the vices of hip-hop are far more influential, I understand. But the good that hip-hop transmits, the power of the culture to rally the best of our protest, and uplift, and resistance, traditions, is often unfairly overlooked.” CultureTraditionUpliftingProtestInfluentialGospel Music Author:Michael Eric Dyson
“I'm an old guy, and I was protesting during the Vietnam War. We killed fifty Asians for every loyal American. Every artist worth a damn in this country was terribly opposed to that war, finally, when it became evident what a fiasco and meaningless butchery it was. We formed sort of a laser beam of protest. Every painter, every writer, every stand-up comedian, every composer, every novelist, every poet aimed in the same direction. Afterwards, the power of this incredible new weapon dissipated.” WarCountryArtistGuyPoetIncrediblesPainterComedianProtestMeaninglessComposerLoyalVietnam War Author:Kurt Vonnegut
“There's a unique component of music that is different from, the written pamphlet or a speech. There's something, when you get the right combination of rhythm, melody and the right lyrical couplet, that feels like truth in the reptilian brain. There's something hardwired in our D.N.A.. And when you get a large group of people singing together in solidarity, it's something that, in my experience, and I've played countless demonstrations and protests through the years, it's something that can really help a struggle.” PeopleDifferentHelpingTogetherBrainStruggleUniqueSingingRhythmProtestMelodySolidarityLyrical Author:Tom Morello
“I was working in the gap where Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted communism and Warhol appropriated the protest image and named it riot, which is precisely what King didn't want his cause to be associated with. But that was the very thing that made it sexy to the art world. So I played between the two associations.” WorldArtSexyCommunismProtestLutherRiotWarhol Author:Kelley Walker
“The people in the West are supposed to believe that Bahrain is a country whose people live a life of peace, but we suffer under a regime that does not want to hear our screaming. The people of more than 20 villages are participating in the protests. They are fed up with the fact that they cannot express their opinions freely.” PeopleBelieveCountrySufferingOpinionProtestFed Up Author:Zainab al-Khawaja
“We will not keep silent, even if the Formula One is taking place. We will protest for human rights and freedom.” SilentHuman RightsProtest Author:Zainab al-Khawaja
“The problem is poverty. And it hides the problem. We often associate black churches with a history of protest. But prosperity gospel and megachurches tend to be rather soft on political issues. T.D. Jakes doesn't take a major stand on political issues. Creflo Dollar certainly doesn't.” ProblemPoliticalBlackChurchPovertyProsperityProtest Author:Anthony B Pinn
“Today people can see and protest all the different interests that want war to happen, the people it financially benefits. The First World War wasn't fought for that reason. The Second World War wasn't fought for that reason. Your entire country and way of life could be overtaken.” PeopleWorldDifferentWarCountryReasonTodayInterestWar Of The WorldsProtestSecond World WarFirst World War Author:John Boyne
“We knowingly chose to protest in the Christ the Savior Cathedral, the most important church in the country, to denounce the connection between the church and Putin.” ImportantCountryChristChurchProtestSavior Author:Yekaterina Samutsevich
“I will sacrifice my comfort, my convenience, my economic position in order to stand in protest, but not impose that on everyone else.” SacrificeEconomicComfortProtest Author:Rilla Askew
“I'm specifically referring to this certain feeling of sadness, fear, and helplessness that descended on me at the Mexico City protest a day or two after the Narvarte murders. Many of us have grown familiar with that feeling. Every few weeks or so it seems we're hit with some new crime or some new corruption scandal that isn't quite the same as a massacre, but that spawns a feeling of futility and despair in its own way.” FeelingsWeekSadnessCrimeDespairMurderCorruptionFamiliarProtestHelplessnessFutilitySpawn Author:Francisco Goldman
“Once when I told sex workers about my own sex work, it ended up building inappropriate trust with some people. But there have been events now - like covering the protests against Backpage at the Village Voice - where I've talked to sex workers who don't necessarily know that I've done sex work.” PeopleDoneBuildingProtestInappropriate Author:Melissa Gira Grant
“The nice thing about being a band that nobody knows about is that you can do whatever you want, you know? Without catching hell for it. That's sort of how we felt about the re-recording, too. I thought, "Well, you know a few people noticed this record the first time around but not so many will really protest if we do it again."” PeopleHellNiceFirst TimeProtestNobody Knows Author:Jonathan Meiburg
“The switch has been built. Maybe you trust Barack Obama not to throw that switch, and maybe you trust George Bush not to throw that switch, but as we look towards the future, we see inequality becoming more and more acute. We're seeing more and more protests against cops and this kind of thing. We're also seeing more and more natural disasters. We're seeing more and more environmental insecurity.” KindNaturalEnvironmentalDisasterInequalityBarackInsecurityProtestCopNatural Disaster Author:Trevor Paglen
“I spent a lot of time with some native Hawaiians who protest being part of the United States and literally carry protest signs saying "We are not Americans." And they have no real warmth for being the 50th state.” RealNativeProtestWarmth Author:Sarah Vowell
“Alexei Navalny, the opposition politician who has led anti-corruption protests, had a blog about a credit line to a company owned by Vladimir Putin's son-in-law, $1.75 billion from Russian state funds; this is one transaction. Putin controls more money directly and indirectly than any individual in human history.” IndividualPoliticianProtestFund Author:Garry Kasparov
“In the 1960s, people like Bob Dylan, his music and words were a threat to the society and mainstream of the time. It shook people alive, and directly and indirectly things changed. But, as I see it, the change is never through the music alone. It's also the circumstances around the music that will cause/create the effect. And sometimes it's just strictly accidental that a piece of music becomes a form of protest.” PeopleSometimesChangedCircumstancesMusic IsThreatProtestThings ChangeDylan1960s Author:G.W. Sok
“Take the people facing charges in connection with the protests that occurred on the eve of Vladimir Putin's third-term inauguration, May 6, 2012. Hundreds were arrested but what's important is that most of those charged are not leaders in the movement. In fact, only one is an identifiable leader. The rest are rank-and-file activists, or people who just came to the protest. This indicates a very particular kind of crackdown - it communicates the message that there's no safe zone.” PeopleKindImportantLeaderCommunicateZoneProtestActivistInauguration Author:Masha Gessen
“You risk everything if you so much as join a legal protest demonstration in Russia. It raises the stakes.” RiskProtest Author:Masha Gessen
“With Pussy Riot - this was a prank! It was a brilliant, artistically gifted prank. But they didn't expect to go to prison! They were college girls who became political prisoners for two years. That makes them very similar to the people who were "just going to a protest one day" and got arrested. They had no idea they were risking the rest of their lives. Because you're never the same after you've spent two years in a gulag.” PeoplePoliticalGirlCollegeOne DayPrisonBrilliantProtestPrisonerRiot Author:Masha Gessen
“Protesting the color of a man's skin is not a worthy protest.” SkinsWorthyProtest Author:Janeane Garofalo
“The first Tea Party protest was scheduled for Inauguration Day. So what were they upset about? Which part of the job he was doing before he even did it were they upset about? Secondly, if they claim to be upset with government corruption, government takeover, crazy spending, where were they from 2000 to 2008? Right? And why weren't they protesting the stolen elections?” PartyCrazyElectionCorruptionTeaUpsetProtestTea PartyInauguration Author:Janeane Garofalo
“My generation was going to change the direction America took. I was completely convinced that we would have a very different kind of society as a result of the protests that I was part of, and I think that's partially true. We obviously never really got to what many of my generation believed was possible, but the amount of change I've seen in my lifetime, both social change and political change, is staggering. I think my generation can take a little bit of credit for that by just opening up the conversation.” ThinkingKindDifferentPoliticalLifetimeProtestDifferent KindsSocial Change Author:Susan Lyne
“Kids today are doing really hard work. Years ago they were involved in anti-apartheid protests. Now there's the whole Occupy movement. Kids are studying to work with handicapped children and so many other things.” ChildrenKidsTodayStudyHard WorkProtest Author:Terri Hemmert