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Social Justice Quotes

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Social Justice Quotes

“It is up to all of us to fix this. It’s not gonna be because somebody comes and saves ya. You know, the most important office in this democracy is the citizen, the ordinary person, who says “nah, that’s not right.” And I do think one of the reasons that our commitment to democratic ideals has eroded is that we got pretty comfortable and complacent. It has been easy during most of our lifetimes to say you are progressive, or say you are for social justice, or say you're for free speech, and not have to pay a price for it. And now we're at one of those moments where you know what, it's not enough just to say you’re for something, you may actually have to do something and possibly sacrifice a little bit. So yeah, if you're a law firm being threatened, you might have to say, OK, we will lose some business because we’re gonna stand for a principle. If you are a university, you may have to say, figure out, are we in fact doing things right? Have we in fact violated our own values, our own code, violated the law in some fashion? If not, and you're just being intimidated, well, you should be able to say, well, that's why we got this big endowment. We'll stand up for what we believe in and then we'll pay our researchers for a while out of that endowment and we'll give up the extra wing, or the fancy gymnasium, we can delay that for a couple years because, you know, academic freedom might be a little more important. For most of human history and to this day in most places in the world, there is a cost to challenging the powers that be, particularly if they're abusing that power. And I’ve noticed this among some wealthier folks who, you know, after George Floyd, they were right there and a bunch of companies were talking about how they cared about diversity and they wanted to do this and they were all for that and they are mute right now. But what that tells me is it was OK when it was cool and trendy, and when it’s not, eh, not so much. And that, I think, is what we have to… each of us has to examine in our own hearts, is, alright, we say we're for equality, are we willing to fight for it, are we gonna risk something for it. We say that we’re for rule of law--are we going to stick to that when it’s tough, not when it’s easy. We believe in freedom of speech. Do we stand up for freedom of speech when the other person talking is saying stuff that infuriates us and is wrong and hurtful. Do we still believe in it?”

“Naskar Accord (The Sonnet) Nationality is a right, Nationalism is not. Religion is a right, Fundamentalism is not. Doubts are a right, Conspiracy is not. Ignorance is a right, Superstition is not. Belief is a right, Hate is not. Fiction is a right, Prejudice is not. Heritage is a right, Division is not. Tradition is a right, Discrimination is not.”

“Little Planet on The Prairie (New Earth Anthem) New Earth is an art of love, not a stain of hateful ignorance. New Earth is a land of promise, not of greed and indifference. New Earth is a blank canvas, we gotta decide what we paint - masterpiece of an inclusive dawn, or a bloody reminder of apish days. New Earth is a better Earth, we no longer thirst after blood. We toil together without divide, to be a gentle beacon in the cosmos. Hijab, habit, turban, all are equal, It's bigotry that is unacceptable. On our New Earth character is supreme, primitive traditions are expendable. Existence here is an art of love, at our planet on the cosmic prairie. New Earth is a celebration of life, not a validation of ruinous rigidity.”

“Ours is an age of reckoning - savages call it wokeness, I call it correctiveness. And it is only through correction that this savage species might, just might, one day become human. It is only through correction we apes might one day usher into the dawn of humanity.”

“Ours is an age of reckoning - savages call it wokeness, I call it correctiveness. And it is only through correction that this savage species might, just might, one day become human. It is only through correction we apes might one day usher into the dawn of humanity. As usual, those who are fixed in the ways of the forefathers would instantly react to this as woke propaganda. So be it. Propaganda is everywhere - bigoted apes give in to their primitive ancestry and propagate hate and division - I, a civilized ape, refuse my innate primitiveness and choose to propagate love and inclusion. Savages choose tradition, I am human, so I choose transformation.”

“The real first world war has just begun - the war between good and evil - the war between emancipation and occupation - between inclusion and exclusion - between expansion and contraction - between reason and rigidity - between humanity and inhumanity. I call it, World War Human.”

“Take a drop of blood from your heart, take a drop of blood from the world, mix it up on the palm of your hand - now tell me, which is which? Can you? Why not? Because you've always paid attention to the vessel, but not to the life within, and now that there is no vessel, only the life remains, you can't tell one life from another, it's all one.”

“The realization of dreams, like every battle for freedom, has always required compromise to one degree or another. When the result of a concession, however, is the mutilation of your soul or the cancellation of someone else's future, then it may be said the desired goal was corrupted or destroyed rather than attained.”

“In thirty years, the narratives of my sons will be different from mine. Because today I am telling my truth and standing in a pool of my trauma, making myself uncomfortable and, hopefully, making you uncomfortable too. Today, I am making it known that when color is clear, when race and inequity are not ignored, and when our differences are not only acknowledged but championed as one of the most valuable aspects of life, we can work together to make meaningful strides toward true social justice.”