I pray with my whole soul that the divide-and-conquerers among us will not triumph over us. We need each other in this world so desperately.
Ruby DeeRead
Revolutionaries don't get job security. They compete with rats for cheese and with strays for shelter--after the big bullets make feet out of their knees.
Interpretation
Revolutionaries often face instability and struggle, sacrificing security for their beliefs.
This quote by Ruby Dee emphasizes the precarious and often dangerous lives of revolutionaries, who must endure hardship and insecurity as they fight for change. It highlights the stark realities they face, likening their circumstances to competing for basic survival amid the brutal consequences of their actions in a tumultuous environment.
In practice
In a speech about social justice, you might say, 'As Ruby Dee reminds us, revolutionaries often face great insecurity.'
I pray with my whole soul that the divide-and-conquerers among us will not triumph over us. We need each other in this world so desperately.
You should always be prepared to win. But as much as I tell myself that, I've accepted another kind of role. Racism undercuts expectation, something like that. I'm not saying that to excuse myself from anything, but I've lived all this time, and things don't happen.
We both grew up in the atmosphere of struggle, both Ossie and me, ... I come out of Harlem and Harlem comes out of me - wailing police sirens and street parties, rumors and landlords, that cultural, spiritual scene. And Ossie came up from the South, where struggle and dying were part of everyday life. That is who we are.
I respect the fact that a director has studied the text and the road map of work before us, the subtleties, interconnections, underpinnings... His job is to paint the entire picture and knows all the colors that have to be in it.
See, I donβt expect to win a prize for stoic control and dignity at mourning time. Death deserve tantrums. Beating back shocked indignation, kicks in the groin, stones, classified unacceptable, not to be tolerated, not to be wooed, not to be conspired with. Only then can music, dance, movies, plays, rap be about life. Only then can life be cherished and adored.
I never thought about myself as an activist when we were coming along. I love the people I love. I didn't care whether they could be a Democrat, Republican, communist... anything but a racist.
Sexual assault has no place in the military. It is a violation of everything that the US military stands for.
As you look at me and listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one too many.
I have failed at many things, but I have never been afraid.
Can we somehow muster the courage and steadfastness of purpose that characterized the pioneers of a former generation? Can you and I, in actual fact, be pioneers [today]?
A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast, And been bow'd to the earth by its fury; To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury - Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime, The regrets of remembrance to cozen, And having obtained a New Trial of Time, Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen.
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