In Their Words

On Rage:

To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time - James Baldwin

You should be angry.  You must not be bitter.  Bitterness is like cancer.  It eats upon the host.  It doesn't do anything to the object of its displeasure.  So use that anger.  You write it.  You paint it.  You dance it.  You march it.  You vote it.  You do everything about it.  You talk it.  Never stop talking it. - Maya Angelou

There is a legitimacy to this anger.  There is a legitimacy to this outrage. - Stacy Abrams

On Silence:

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

There comes a time when silence is betrayal. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter - Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty of the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Now:

There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation.  The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now. – James Baldwin

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.  We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.  In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.  This is no time for apathy or complacency.  This is a time for vigorous and positive action, - Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Courage:

I want to discourage you from choosing anything or making any decision simply because it's safe.  Things of value seldom are. - Toni Morrison

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.  The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but her who conquers that fear. - Nelson Mandela

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. -  James Baldwin