I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
Paul RobesonRead
This United States Government should go down to Mississippi and protect my people. That is what should happen.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for the government to take action to protect marginalized communities.
In this quote, Paul Robeson is calling for the United States government to actively intervene and safeguard the rights and welfare of African Americans in Mississippi. It reflects his belief that it is the duty of those in power to ensure justice and protection for vulnerable populations, highlighting a sense of responsibility and urgency for government action against systemic injustices.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for civil rights.
I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
We ask for nothing that is not ours by right, and herein lies the great moral power of our demand.
My mother was born in your state, Mr. Walter, and my mother was a Quaker, and my ancestors in the time of Washington baked bread for George Washington's troops when they crossed the Delaware, and my own father was a slave.
The intolerance of the few, or the risk of it, carries the day against the wider humanity of the many.
I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom
And at home in the United States we found continued and increased persecution, first of leaders of the Communist Party, and then of all honest anti-fascists.
Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things - with resignations, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope.
Liberty's in every blow! Let us do or die.
It is in the power of everybody, with a little courage, to hold out a hand to someone different, to listen, to attempt to increase, by even a tiny amount, the quantity of kindness and humanity in the world.
I feel safe even in the midst of my enemies; for the truth is powerful and will prevail.
You do not stop losing power by refusing to recognize your fear, by anesthetizing yourself to what you feel. The road to authentic power is always through what you feel through your heart.
Here am I. I'm 38. My career's probably never been better. And I've made a decision which may or may not impact on it - I refuse to hide my experience and my age, as if it's something I should be ashamed of. I'm alive. I know lots of people who've never been lucky enough to get to this stage in their life. And I'm not gonna hide it for anybody.
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