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Social Justice Quotes

Browse 2520 quotes about Social Justice.

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Social Justice Quotes

“But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And why? Because, he says, I forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a nigger! After all, and last of all, he comes between me and my wife, and says I shall give her up, and live with another woman. And all this your laws give him power to do, in spite of God or man. Mr. Wilson, look at it! There isn't one of all these things, that have broken the hearts of my mother and my sister, and my wife and myself, but your laws allow, and give every man power to do, in Kentucky, and none can say to him nay! Do you call these the laws of my country? Sir, I haven't any country, anymore than I have any father. But I'm going to have one. I don't want anything of your country, except to be let alone,--to go peaceably out of it; and when I get to Canada, where the laws will own me and protect me, that shall be my country, and its laws I will obey. But if any man tries to stop me, let him take care, for I am desperate. I'll fight for my liberty to the last breath I breathe. You say your fathers did it; if it was right for them, it is right for me!”

RacismSocial JusticeSlaveryHuman RightsCivil Disobedience
Book:Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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“One of the hardest lessons I have learned social justice work is that, even when oppressive systems are confronted and dismantled, those responsible will- more often than not- take hold of the narrative to mitigate responsibility. As a result, the oppressed still tend to bear the brunt of the fallout. And what makes that even harder to process is that many people who would declare themselves "allies to the cause" will passively or actively buy into that false narrative because it is far easier and less costly than to walk in genuine solidarity. I don't say this so that people will feel hopeless about their commitments to justice. Quite the opposite. If you know that this happens, you won't be as crushed when it does.”

JusticeSocial JusticeOppressionSolidarityGaslightingAllyshipTransformative Justice
Author:Jamie Arpin-Ricci
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“But on one occasion he was lost for words. 'If it's all as bad as you describe,' asked an inconspicuous young man at the end of one of the lectures, 'then why did you choose to become a Gypsy?' His image of Gypsies had marked them as a mere lifestyle, a fashion, a brand.”

CultureEducationRacismSocial JusticeGypsyCultural AppropriationStereotypingRomaniRomani Gypsies
Book:I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies
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“Gaza is not for sale, Greenland is not for sale, Ukraine is not for sale, Canada is not for sale. Planet Earth is not real estate, to pander to your predatory psychopathy. If you are so hard up for cash, we can all chip in to buy you some good ol shock therapy.”

Social JusticeFascismNaziGazaHuman Rights ActivistFreedom FighterNeonaziAnti FascismCanadianColonizer
Book:Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience
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“Colonials Go Home! (Forest Fascist Reserve, Sonnet) Colonials go home, not to England or Europe, but straight to the jungle! Only place wild animals are beautiful, is in the dog-eat-dog spaces of the wild. Don't worry, once in a while we'll visit, like we visit any of your fellow animals. If anything, visiting you will inspire us further, to never deviate from integration. Nevertheless, there is still another way, you don't need to be deported back to the jungle. If there is even a smidgen of humanity in you, now is the time to bring it out, and get help. Otherwise, we can easily trace your family tree, back to the time your family lived in it. Once we do, all nine billion of us will chip in, and hire a couple of cargo planes to deport all you bigots to a forest fascist reserve.”

Social JusticeNationalismBigotryFascismIntoleranceColonialismHate CrimeNeonaziFascistAnti Fascism
Book:Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience
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“That Day I'll Call You Human (Sonnet) I shall call you all human, the day you bring down all borders, like you brought down the Berlin wall. I shall call you all human, the day you abolish all military, like you abolished the SS. I shall call you all human, the day you eradicate fundamentalism, like you eradicated polio. I shall call you all human, the day you ban the oligarchs, like you tackled corona. If you can't be a tsunami, be a flash flood - if you can't be a flash flood, be a garden hose, and wash away the inhumanities around you.”

Social JusticeHuman RightsCivil RightsFundamentalismHumanitarianismPeace ActivistWorld Is FamilyOligarchyDemilitarizationAnti Fascism
Book:Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience
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“Naskar vs States of Earth (Sonnet 2635) On planet earth everyone is citizen, regimes that deny rights require psychiatric treatment. Politicians that run concentration camps deserve more holes than they got, yet don't, just put Uncle in a home. Flags that sell hate deserve to be burnt, yet don't burn them, just leave them behind. Badges that strike fear among the innocents deserve to be slaughtered, yet don't slaughter, just cripple them with vigil disobedience. I'm the Original Virtue that predates vermin vaticans, I'm the First Piety that predates all promised estate. I'm the Sacred Science that defangs all poison saffron, I'm the Ink of Mind that outdates doctrinal malignance. I'm the Original Swastika that predates all reichs, I'm the Sunrise that outlives puny stars and stripes. I'm Justice, I'm Dervish, I'm phenyl to the fascist - my footsteps are the law, I'm pesticide to prejudice. Crowns belong beneath my sneakers, white or not. When ICE comes, I stand here with a blowtorch.”

Social JusticeHuman RightsNationalismSufismFundamentalismNondualityAdvaitaXenophobiaHuman Rights ActivistAnti Fascism
Book:With Love From A Blue Rock
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“The stories we tell about who we are as a nation, and the values that define us, are not fixed. They change as facts change. They change as the balance of power in society changes. Which is why regular people, not just governments, need to be active participants in this process of retelling and reimagining our collective stories, symbols, and histories.”

Social JusticeStorytellingNarrativeEconomic JusticeEnvironmental JusticeGreen New Deal
Book:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
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“We face so many overlapping and intersecting crises that we can't afford to fix them one at a time. We need integrated solutions, solutions that radically bring down emissions while creating huge numbers of good, unionized jobs and delivering meaningful justice to those who have been most abused and excluded under the current extractive economy.”

InspirationalHumanitySocial JusticeUnionsClimate ChangeEconomic JusticeEnvironmental JusticeClimate Justice
Book:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
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“The most important lesson to take from all this is that there is no way to confront the climate crisis as a technocratic problem, in isolation. It must be seen in the context of austerity and privatization, of colonialism and militarism, and of the various systems of othering needed to sustain them all. The connections and intersections between them are glaring, and yet so often, resistance to them is highly compartmentalized. The anti-austerity people rarely talk about climate change; the climate change people rarely talk about war or occupation. Too many of us fail to make the connection between the guns that take black lives on the streets of US cities and in police custody and the much larger forces that annihilate so many black lives on arid land and in precarious boats around the world. Overcoming these disconnections, strengthening the threads tying together our various issues and movements, is, I would argue, the most pressing task of anyone concerned with social and economic justice. It is the only way to build a counterpower sufficiently robust to win against the forces protecting the highly profitable but increasingly untenable status quo.”

HumanitySocial JusticeClimate ChangeHumanitarian CrisisClimate CrisisEconomic JusticeEnvironmental JusticeGreen New Deal
Book:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
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“There is one more salient feature of neoliberalism that is essential in identifying it in the wild: fake social progressivism. This is one of its most sinister traits, because it helps unjust institutions appear benevolent and forward-thinking... You'll notice that tendency over and over; an institution that is inherently hierarchical and unjust tries to defuse criticisms through superficial changes. A corporation, for instance, will not increase the rights of its ordinary workers or eliminate racial and gender pay gaps, but it might introduce racial and gender diversity on its board of directors.”

CapitalismSocial JusticeHuman RightsCorporationsNeoliberalismEconomic Justice
Book:Why You Should Be a Socialist
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“Here, we can see why the authoritarian 'socialist' regimes of the twentieth century did not deserve to be called socialist at all. In the Soviet Union, workers had very limited control over their workplaces. They were told what to do by party functionaries. Socialism does not mean control by the government, it means control by the people, and if the government is not responsive to the will of the people, it's 'socialistic' in the same way that Kim Jong-Un's Democratic People's Republic of Korea is 'democratic.' This is also why, while I and many others use the term democratic socialism to draw a distinction between our ideas and the hideous so-called socialism implemented under Joseph Stalin, ultimately the term should be redundant. Socialism is a term for economic democracy, so an undemocratic system doesn't deserve to claim the name.”

Social JusticeHuman RightsSocialismEconomic JusticeDemocratic SocialismDebunking MythsSocialism Defined
Book:Why You Should Be a Socialist
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“A commitment to expanding democracy is at the core of all good socialist thinking. Democracy is the principle that people ought to have a say over decisions that affect them, and that they should be in control of their own lives rather than being subjected to the wishes of powerful economic and political elites.”

DemocracyLaborSocial JusticeHuman RightsSocialismWorking ClassEconomic JusticeDemocratic Socialism
Book:Why You Should Be a Socialist
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“When governments talk of truth and reconciliation, and then push unwanted infrastructure projects, please remember this: There can be no truth unless we admit to the 'why' behind centuries of abuse and land theft. And there can be no reconciliation when the crime is still in progress. Only when we have the courage to tell the truth about our old stories will the new stories arrive to guide us. Stories that recognize that the natural world and all its inhabitants have limits. Stories that teach us how to care for each other and regenerate life within those limits. Stories that put an end to the myth of endlessness once and for all.”

Social JusticeStorytellingNatural ResourcesStorytellersEconomic JusticeNative LandIndigenous PeoplesGreen New DealNarrative Theory
Book:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
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“The better news is that as we transform how we generate energy, how we move ourselves around, how we grow our food and how we live in cities, we have a historic opportunity to build a society that is fairer on every front, and where everyone is valued. Here's how we do it. We make sure that, wherever possible, our renewable energy comes from community-controlled providers and cooperatives, so that decisions about land use are made democratically and profits from energy production are used to pay for much-needed services.”

DemocracySocial JusticeClimate ChangeRenewable EnergyUrban PlanningEconomic JusticeGreen New DealGreen EconomyClimate Justice
Book:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
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“When we over consume the Earth's resources, we create an economic imbalance in societies and in the world. Affluent people and affluent societies can afford to buy everything in large quantities. They have an abundance of wealth and think they have the license to waste. They use a great deal and leave others with very little. It is this imbalance between rich and poor that gives rise to crime, violence, prejudice, and other negative attitudes. When some people cannot get what they need through honest hard work, and see others wasting what is so precious, they feel justified in taking it by force. The Earth can only produce enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed. Our greed and wasteful habits perpetuate poverty, which is violence against humanity.”

Social JusticeEnvironmentalismIncome Inequality
Book:Legacy of Love: My Education in the Path of Nonviolence
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“Disparities in economic standing drive radical differences in Americans’ values, causing a pronounced and antagonistic political ideologically. Americans are progressively viewing members of the domestic opposition party as the greatest threat to their wellbeing. Instead of fearing a war overseas, Americans are increasing distrustful of other Americans. A great American cultural war between the rich and poor is inevitable, unless corporate America and its wealthiest citizens voluntary commence accepting a larger load of taxation and the government implements dramatic steps to shore up the disparity that continues to widen between the people on contrasting economic poles.”

Social JusticeRich And PoorClass WarfareEconomic DisparityPolitical IdeologyClass WarCultural RevolutionCultural WarCultural Reformation
Book:Dead Toad Scrolls
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“You know why there is so-much power outage in the world? Because the humans are unaware of their own electricity, both metaphorically and literally. And one who realizes their inner electricity and brings it out to electrify the whole world, is the true CEO of the world. I don't care for being the CEO of some puny anti-humanitarian company, for I am already a CEO - I am the CEO of planet earth - I am the Chief Evolution Officer of the human world - so is every single human whose responsibility towards society outweighs their primeval drive for narcissism and self-preservation. In every age, in every time, there'll come ten of us Chief Evolution Officers to make mincemeat of the megalomaniacal ploy of anti-humanitarian giants while driving human evolution in a humane direction.”

Social JusticePolitical ScienceSocial StudiesWorld LeaderHuman Rights ActivistHumanitarian CrisisEconomic DisparityCorporate GreedCeo QuotesBig Tech
Book:High Voltage Habib: Gospel of Undoctrination
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“As he was raising his hand to his lips, it occurred to him that this was the first time in all his years that he had eaten something that was prepared by hands of unknown caste. Perhaps it was this thought, or perhaps it was just the smell of the food--it happened, at any rate, that he was assailed by a nausea so powerful that he could not bring his fingers to his mouth. The intensity of his body's resistance amazed him: for the fact was that he did not believe in caste, or at least he had said, many, many times, to his friends and anyone else who would listen. If, in answer, they accused him of having become too tash, overly Westernized, his retort was always to say, no, his allegiance was to the Buddha, the Mahavira, Shri Chaitanya, Kabir and many others such--all of whom had battled against the boundaries of caste with as much determinations as any European revolutionary. Neel had always taken pride in laying claim to this lineage of egalitarianism, all the more so since it was his prerogative to see on a Raja's guddee: but why, then, had he never before eaten anything prepared by an unknown hand?”

Social JusticeCaste SystemInstitutionalized Racism
Book:Sea of Poppies
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“To consume the best for yourself and give the crumbs to God is blasphemy. A heart that truly worships is a heart that gives its best to God in time and substance. A heart that truly worships God gives generously to the causes of God---causes that God cares deeply about. I have to wonder whether someday we may wake up to discover that all our incestous spending on ourselves and our frantic construction of excessively luxurious places of worship---even as we ignore, for the most part, the hurting and the deprived of the world---filled God's heart with pain.”

GivingChurchPoorSocial JusticeDeprivedHurtingTithe
Book:The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us through the Events in Our Lives
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“The constitutional right of today may be a violation of human rights tomorrow, hence, no constitution, and in fact, no text is to be taken as gospel… they must be scrutinized by each new generation and if found incompatible with the new society, must be either amended or discarded altogether.”

PoliticsConstitutionSocial JusticeHuman RightsSocial ReformHuman Rights ViolationConstitutional RightsConstitutional Government2nd Amendment
Book:Solo Standing on Guard: Life Before Law
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“For those local and international elites who maintain control over most of the world's wealth, social revolution is an abomination. Whether it be peaceful or violent is a question of no great moment to them. Peaceful reforms that infringe upon their profitable accumulations and threaten their class privileges are as unacceptable to them as the social upheaval by revolution.”

PoliticsRevolutionCapitalismSocial JusticeClass StruggleClass Warfare
Book:Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
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