There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
Communities of color have also had to watch video after video of unarmed black men and women being handled without regard for their lives or well-being. As a black man, I see these images, and I see myself; I wonder whether this will happen to me or one of my loved ones.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the deep concern and fear felt by communities of color regarding violence against unarmed individuals.
In this quote, Malcolm Jenkins expresses the emotional turmoil that arises from witnessing repeated incidents of violence against unarmed Black individuals. He highlights the personal impact of these events on his own life and the lives of his loved ones, illustrating a sense of vulnerability and the harsh reality faced by many in communities of color. This acknowledgment of fear and the desire for safety resonates with the larger societal issues surrounding racial injustice.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about racial equality during a community event.
More from Malcolm Jenkins
All quotes →I grew up playing in the streets. We played two-hand touch from street pole to street pole. That's how I learned the game.
Our biggest thing is, any player who's protesting will tell you that the only reason we use the anthem is because it's a platform like no other. We use it to draw attention to other issues. We've heard from many people, 'Use a different venue. Use a different platform.' Quite frankly, this is the most effective one.
When I look at our communities, our country, our justice system, those are things I want to change and I'm committed to changing, and that's going to take sacrifice. Laying the foundation is the hardest part and requires a lot of sacrifice and time.
The people who have been unjustly disenfranchised by our criminal justice system and the people who daily fight for them always have, and always will be, the inspiration and focus of my efforts.
I didn't realize that the platform could be this big until Colin Kaepernick first took a knee. When he did that, that was kind of an 'aha' moment for me.
Similar quotes
Soyons fermes, purs et fidèles ; au bout de nos peines, il y a la plus grande gloire du monde, celle des hommes qui n'ont pas cédé. [Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world, that of the men who did not give in.]
Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's just deciding that fear isn't calling the shots anymore
When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.
Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen - but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.
My being a black woman is not a deficit. It is a strength. Because I could not be where I am had I not overcome so many other barriers. Which means you know I'm relentless, you know I'm persistent, and you know I'm smart.
I would never call myself a cancer survivor because I think it devalues those who do not survive. There's this whole mythology that people bravely battle their cancer and then they become survivors. Well, the ones who don't survive may be just as brave, you know, just as courageous, wonderful people.