“I am convinced that imprisonment is a way of pretending to solve the problem of crime. It does nothing for the victims of crime, but perpetuates the idea of retribution, thus maintaining the endless cycle of violence in our culture. It is a cruel and useless substitute for the elimination of those conditions--poverty, unemployment, homelessness, desperation, racism, greed--which are at the root of most punished crime. The crimes of the rich and powerful go mostly unpunished.” WayDoeIdeasProblemCulturePowerfulPovertyRichViolenceConditionsCrimeRacismRootsVictimGreedSolveConvincedEndlessUselessCyclesSubstitutesPretendingUnemploymentDesperationMaintainingHomelessnessRetributionImprisonmentEliminationCycle Of Violence Author:Howard Zinn
“Football is not, in my view, a sport: it is somewhere between a business racket and a mental illness. I associate it with all the worst aspects of our society - violence, drunkenness, drugs, racism, exploitation, greed and stupidity; and that's just for starters.” SportsViewsViolenceWorstFootballDrugRacismAspectGreedIllnessStupidityMental IllnessSoccerAnalysisOur SocietyExploitationAssociatesDrunkennessRacketStarters Author:Simon Heffer
“I think there are so many children being brought up in some form of violence, be it violence of poverty or sexism or racism or homophobia or transphobia. That violence takes a life to transform or overcome. I don't think people should be spending their lives dealing with that. I think people should be thriving, playing, creating, evolving.” PeopleThinkingShouldChildrenFormPovertyViolenceCreatingRacismOvercomingSpendingEvolveSexismHomophobia Author:Eve Ensler
“When I wrote 'The Giver,' it contained no so-called 'bad words.' It was set, after all, in a mythical, futuristic, and Utopian society. Not only was there no poverty, divorce, racism, sexism, pollution, or violence in the world of 'The Giver'; there was also careful attention paid to language: to its fluency, precision, and power.” WorldLanguageAttentionPovertyViolenceRacismPaidCarefulDivorceSexismPollutionGiverPrecisionUtopianFuturisticBad WordFluency Author:Lois Lowry
“I think there are universal principles that we should want to understand, but that are not necessarily good for us. We could recognise universal propensities which current cultures can't fully eradicate, which we would want to eradicate if we could. Let's say, a tendency for tribal violence. Or racism.” IfsThinkingWantShouldCulturePrinciplesViolenceRacismUniversalCurrentsTendenciesRecognisePropensity Author:Sam Harris
“To have one's race brutally treated for so many years, even after the end of slavery and segregation, people are going to rise up with violence to attain what they believe is rightfully theirs. The most important thing at this time is raising the awareness of everyone; people need to be educated everywhere about all aspects of racism and how it affects people still today.” PeopleNeedsYearsBelieveStillsImportantEndsTodayRaceViolenceAwarenessRacismAspectSlaveryImportant ThingsTreatedEducatedSegregation Author:Assata Shakur
“Even if, personally, I'm in a place of contentment or solidity, I feel like it's hard not to look out into American culture and see vast inequity, widespread institutionalized violence and racism and transphobia and environmental destruction. It's hard to be in this world and feel a sense of innate satisfaction at all. There's plenty of things to feel unsettled about.” IfsWorldFeelsLooksHardCultureViolenceThis WorldRacismDestructionEnvironmentalSatisfactionPlentyContentmentInnateAmerican CultureSolidityEnvironmental Destruction Author:Carrie Brownstein
“I think the rap community always tells the truth. And I think that it's important that we listen to their voices so we can have a roadmap, because artists - almost every single artist in hip-hop, they paint a picture of society that's overlooked. The misogyny, the racism, the violence, the homophobia, these are things that we try to avoid instead of dealing with. All of that I see it so often.” ThinkingTryingImportantArtistVoiceCommunityViolenceRacismPaintHip HopRapHipsTelling The TruthHopsMisogynyHomophobiaOverlooked Author:Russell Simmons
“When love of one's people becomes an absolute, it turns into racism. When love of equality turns into a supreme thing, it can result in hatred and violence toward anyone who has led a privileged life. It is the settled tendency of human societies to turn good political causes into counterfeit gods.” PeopleHumansPoliticalTurnsCausesResultsViolenceRacismHatredAbsolutesSupremeTendenciesPrivilegedHuman SocietyCounterfeitGood PoliticalPrivileged Life Book:Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters Source: Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters
“People say what distinguishes us from the animals is that we think. Well, then why the hell don't we extend some compassion to those under tremendous duress? There's this whole idea that you work really hard so you can deaden your soul to the universe and enjoy yourself only in ways the Sierra Club will let you. But what about enjoying yourself by getting into the whole melee of poverty and racism and violence and murder and drug addiction? Get in there, roll up your sleeves, and do something! Nobody does it.” PeopleThinkingWayWellsDoeIdeasSoulHardWholeUniverseEnjoyAnimalCompassionPovertyHellViolenceDrugRacismMurderAddictionClubsYour SoulSleevesDrug AddictionDrug AddictSierraEnjoy YourselfDuress Author:Jimmy Santiago Baca
“We would solve a lot of huge problems that are causing massive suffering. Poverty, violence, homophobia, heterosexism, racism, the environment - all these things that are crippling us. We need big, bold, dangerous, crazy ideas to solve these problems. When failure is not an option, innovation and creativity are not options.” NeedsIdeasProblemBigsSufferingPovertyCreativityEnvironmentViolenceCrazyDangerousHugeRacismInnovationSolveMassiveHomophobiaCreativity And InnovationFailure Is Not An OptionCrazy Ideas Author:Brené Brown
“You know, my goal is not to convince you that I'm right or that you're wrong. About homophobia. Gun violence. Racism. Whatever the issue. I'm really trying hard with you - and others - to have a respectful discussion, debate about these issues.” KnowsTryingHardGoalIssuesViolenceRacismGunDebateDiscussionConvinceRespectfulHomophobiaGun ViolenceTrying Hard Author:Steven Petrow
“If you read Martin Luther King speeches and sermons in the last two years of his life - you might want to - when I read these to my students, they think it's Malcom X because it's so radical. And if you read nothing else - if your viewers read nothing else - then the April 4, 1967, speech at Riverside Church called "Beyond Vietnam," that's where he says the greatest purveyor of violence on earth is my country. And he connects the triplets of evil, racism, militarism, and materialism, and that connection makes him a radical.” IfsThinkingWantYearsTwoCountryMightEarthLastsEvilChurchViolenceStudentsKingsSpeechRacismConnectionsRadicalTwo YearsMaterialismVietnamViewersSermonsLutherAprilMilitarismKings SpeechTripletRiverside Author:Bill Ayers
“Racism is worse than ever. Violence is worse than ever. The economy's worse than ever. Unemployment's worse than ever. And it's Democrats that have been running the show, with the first African-American president at the top of the heap, and it didn't get any better?” FirstsHas BeensShowsRunningPresidentEconomyViolenceRacismDemocratAfrican AmericanUnemploymentAmerican President Author:Rush Limbaugh
“We have to bridge and join our struggles and understand how we can't fight violence against women without looking at racism, we can't fight violence against women without looking at economic deprivation or climate change. All these struggles are interconnected.” FightingStruggleViolenceEconomicRacismClimateClimate ChangeBridgesViolence Against WomenDeprivationInterconnected Author:Eve Ensler
“The violence inherent in our systems and structures of power is a part of who we are - our thoughts, sensibilities, imaginations, language. We live in manifestations of it - permanent war, environmental destrucution, poverty, racism, misogyny, the assault on labor, torture in our prisons, capital punishment - a corporate capitalist state controlled by oligarchical interests for their own private profit and gain.” WarLanguageInterestImaginationPovertyViolenceRacismLaborPrisonEnvironmentalManifestationTortureCapitalistSensibilityMisogynyCapital Punishment Author:Lawrence Joseph