Civil Right Movement Quotes

• I don't think the riots derailed the civil rights movement.

  Henry Louis Gates

  Thinking, Rights, Movement

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• The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.

  John Lewis

  Rights, Movement, Saws

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• As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could have conceivably lived with Jim Crow - with the daily degradations, the lynchings in plain sight, and, as the movement gathered force, with the fire hoses and the police dogs and the billy clubs.

  Jon Meacham

  Dog, Epic, Fire

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• When the women's liberation movement began, when people began protesting against the Vietnam War, civil rights movement, at the beginning of those movements, the majority of the country was not with them, did not believe in the basic principles of any of those philosophies.

  Michael Moore

  Country, Philosophy, War

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• Quakers are known for wanting to give back. Ban the bomb and the civil rights movement and the native American struggle for justice - those things were very, very front-burner in my childhood, as were the ideas of working for peace and if you have more than you need, then you share it with people who don't.

  Bonnie Raitt

  Struggle, Native American, Rights

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• Well, it's the last step of the Civil Rights Movement: you know, wrap your hands around some money.

  Russell Simmons

  Rights, Hands, Movement

  "CNN Student News" with Judy Fortin, www.cnn.com. April 25, 2005.

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• I took an interest in the Civil Rights Movement. I listened to Martin Luther King. The Vietnam War was raging. When I was 18, I was eligible for the draft, but when I went to be tested, I didn't qualify.

  Radhanath Swami

  Kings, War, Rights

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• Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Life, Marriage

  Martin Luther King (Jr.), Alex Ayres (1993). “The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Plume

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• The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.

  Rosa Parks

  Courage, Struggle, Tired

  Rosa Parks, James Haskins (1948). “My Story”, Scholastic

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• The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Heart, Creativity, Creative

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

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• There has been only a civil rights movement, whose tone of voice was adapted to an audience of liberal whites.

  Stokely Carmichael

  Rights, Voice, Movement

  Stokely Carmichael (1966). “What we want”

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• If Willie Nelson had been Rosa Parks, there never would have been a civil rights movement in this country, because he refuses to leave the back of the bus.

  Kinky Friedman

  Country, Hippie, Rights

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• If Martin Luther King came back, he'd say we need another civil rights movement built on class not race.

  Henry Louis Gates

  Kings, Rights, Race

  "The biggest brother". Interview with Sean O'Hagan, www.theguardian.com. July 20, 2003.

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• The sad truth is that the civil rights movement cannot be reborn until we identify the causes of black suffering, some of them self-inflicted. Why can't black leaders organize rallies around responsible sexuality, birth within marriage, parents reading to their children and students staying in school and doing homework?

  Henry Louis Gates

  Children, Reading, School

  Henry Louis Gates Jr. (2012). “The Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Reader”, p.546, Basic Books

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• We can revolutionize the attitude of inner city brown and black kids to learning. We need a civil rights movement within the African-American community.

  Henry Louis Gates

  Attitude, Kids, Rights

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• That's what he was saying, the civil rights movement - judge me for my character, not how black my skin is, not how yellow my skin is, how short I am, how tall or fat or thin; It's by my character.

  Pam Grier

  Character, Yellow, Rights

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• Yes, I think it's really important to acknowledge that Dr. King, precisely at the moment of his assassination, was re-conceptualizing the civil rights movement and moving toward a sort of coalitional relationship with the trade union movement.

  Angela Davis

  Kings, Moving, Thinking

  "Frontline", www.pbs.org. 1997.

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• Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspiring, Fear, Hate

  "Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story". Book by Martin Luther King Jr., 1957.

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• Right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Kings, Truth, Unconditional Love

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2015). “The Radical King”, p.84, Beacon Press

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• Hate is too great a burden to bear.

  Coretta Scott King

  Hater, Famous Love, Inspirational Love

  "Understanding Cultural Diversity in Today's Complex World‎" by Leo Parvis, (p. 54), 2006.

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• One individual can begin a movement that turns the tide of history. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement, Mohandas Ganhi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa are examples of people standing up with courage and non-violence to bring about needed changes.

  Jack Canfield

  Inspirational, Kings, Rights

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• Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Kings, Hate, Light

  "A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings".

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• Unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Kings, Truth

  Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 10 Dec. 1964

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• The greatest movement for social justice our country has ever known is the civil rights movement and it was totally rooted in a love ethic.

  Bell Hooks

  Country, Rights, Justice

  "A chat with the Author of 'All About Love: New Visions'". CNN Chat Room, www.cnn.com. February 17, 2000.

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• Half a century ago, the amazing courage of Rosa Parks, the visionary leadership of Martin Luther King, and the inspirational actions of the civil rights movement led politicians to write equality into the law and make real the promise of America for all her citizens.

  David Cameron

  Leadership, Kings, Real

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