The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class - it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.
Interpretation
Freedom is a universal right that transcends individual identities and groups.
This quote emphasizes that the pursuit of freedom is not limited to specific races, religions, political parties, or social classes; rather, it is a fundamental right that belongs to all of humanity. Anna Julia Cooper argues that true liberty is an inherent birthright that should be championed for everyone, highlighting the importance of recognizing our shared humanity in the struggle for freedom.
In practice
During a speech advocating for civil rights, one could use this quote to highlight the universal nature of freedom.
It is not the intelligent woman v. the ignorant woman; nor the white woman v. the black, the brown, and the red, it is not even the cause of woman v. man. Nay, tis woman's strongest vindication for speaking that the world needs to hear her voice.
I speak for the colored women of the South, because it is there that the millions of blacks in this country have watered the soil with blood and tears, and it is there too that the colored woman of America has made her characteristic history and there her destiny is evolving.
Let woman's claim be as broad in the concrete as the abstract. We take our stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life, and the unnaturalness and injustice of all special favoritism, whether of sex, race, country, or condition. If one link of the chain is broken, the chain is broken.
Bullies are always cowards at heart and may be credited with a pretty safe instinct in scenting their prey.
I constantly felt (as I suppose many an ambitious girl has felt) a thumping from within unanswered by any beckoning from without.
Peace produced by suppression is neither natural nor desirable.
Conflict exists strictly as an opportunity to raise our consciousness.
All of our reasoning ends in surrender to feeling.
Equality may be a right, but no power on earth can convert it into fact.
For every crime that comes before him, a judge is required to complete a perfect syllogism in which the major premise must be the general law; the minor, the action that conforms or does not conform to the law; and the conclusion, acquittal or punishment. If the judge were constrained, or if he desired to frame even a single additional syllogism, the door would thereby be opened to uncertainty.
Some of the biggest advocates for feminism seem to believe that in order to feel powerful you have to make another woman subservient, and that is not what feminism is about at all.
Ultimately a highly complex sentiment, having its first origin in the social instincts, largely guided by the approbation of our fellow-men, ruled by reason, self-interest, and in later times by deep religious feelings, confirmed by instruction and habit, all combined, constitute our moral sense or conscience.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.