There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
Malcolm JenkinsRead
Sometimes, we get numb to the fact that people get sent away. We don't see where they are; we say they are 'doing time,' and you really don't know what that is.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the emotional disconnection people have with those incarcerated, highlighting the lack of understanding about their experiences.
Malcolm Jenkins points out how society often becomes indifferent to the reality of incarceration, using the phrase 'doing time' to simplify a complex and painful experience. This numbness can lead to a lack of empathy for those who are removed from their communities and families, as we fail to recognize the humanity and individual stories behind the term 'prisoner.'
In practice
In a discussion about criminal justice reform, this quote can highlight the need for greater empathy towards those incarcerated.
There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
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.
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.
Since no man ever can, or could, live by himself and for himself alone, the destinies of thousands of other people were bound to be affected, some remotely, but some very directly and near-at-hand, by my own choices and decisions and desires, as my own life would also be formed and modified according to theirs.
I do atypical work for a white person, which is that I lead primarily white audiences in discussions on race every day, in workshops all over the country. That has allowed me to observe very predictable patterns. And one of those patterns is this inability to tolerate any kind of challenge to our racial reality.
Men are all the same, they think that because they came out of the belly of a woman they know all there is to know about women.
If you love someone who's an addict and their use is life-threatening, you don't wait until they hit bottom because that can mean that they're going to die. You have to do everything you can to get them in treatment.
I have always tried to avoid talking to pretty girls, because pretty girls have a vicious effect on me in which every part of my brain is shut down except for the part that says unbelievably stupid things and the part that is aware that I am saying unbelievably stupid things.
These kids at the Ali Forney Center are literally dumped by their families because of the fact that they are lesbian, gay, or transgender - this organization really is saving lives.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.