After the revolution, let us hope, prisons simply would not exist – if by prisons we mean places that could be experienced by the men and women in them at all as every place that goes by that name now is bound to be experienced.
BARBARA DEMINGAfter the revolution, let us hope, prisons simply would not exist – if by prisons we mean places that could be experienced by the men and women in them at all as every place that goes by that name now is bound to be experienced.
BARBARA DEMINGThe longer we listen to one another – with real attention – the more commonality we will find in all our lives. That is, if we are careful to exchange with one another life stories and not simply opinions.
BARBARA DEMINGLet me be really here, here in this place and this time where I am.
BARBARA DEMINGNonviolent tactics can move into action on our behalf men not naturally inclined to act for us.
BARBARA DEMINGIt is one thing to be able to state the price the antagonist paid, another to be able to count you own real gains.
BARBARA DEMINGWe believe, in fact, that the one act of respect has little force unless matched by the other – in balance with it… The acting out of that dual respect I would name as precisely the source of our power.
BARBARA DEMINGNonviolent action does not have to get others to be nice. It can in effect force them to consult their consciences.
BARBARA DEMINGThe point is to change one’s life. The point is not to give some vent to the emotions that have been destroying one; the point is so to act that one can master them now.
BARBARA DEMINGI think the only choice that will enable us to hold to our vision. . . is one that abandons the concept of naming enemies and adopts a concept familiar to the nonviolent tradition: naming behavior that is oppressive.
BARBARA DEMINGPeople who attack others need rationalizations for doing so. We undermine those rationalizations.
BARBARA DEMINGThink first of the action that is right to take, think later about coping with one’s fears.
BARBARA DEMINGAll prisons that have existed in our society to date put people away as no human being should ever be put away.
BARBARA DEMINGThere should be no censorship of mail.
BARBARA DEMINGGandhi once declared that it was his wife who unwittingly taught him the effectiveness of nonviolence. Who better than women should know that battles can be won without resort to physical strength? Who better than we should know all the power that resides in noncooperation?
BARBARA DEMINGThis is the heart of my argument: We can put more pressure on the antagonist for whom we show human concern.
BARBARA DEMINGVengeance is not the point: change is.
BARBARA DEMING