“The campaign against the death penalty has been – while a powerful campaign, its participants have been those who attend all of the vigils, a relatively small number of people.”

Revolution is a serious thing, the most serious thing about a revolutionary’s life. When one commits oneself to the struggle, it must be for a lifetime.

Human beings cannot be willed and molded into non-existence.

As a black woman, my politics and political affiliation are bound up with and flow from participation in my people’s struggle for liberation, and with the fight of oppressed people all over the world against American imperialism.

Anyway I don’t think we can rely on governments, regardless of who is in power, to do the work that only mass movements can do.

Prison relieves us of the responsibility of seriously engaging with the problems of our society, especially those produced by racism and, increasingly, global capitalism.

I never saw myself as an individual who had any particular leadership powers.

It’s true that it’s within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues, which I think is good, although it’s not going to solve the problems.

Poor people, people of color – especially are much more likely to be found in prison than in institutions of higher education.

I have a hard time accepting diversity as a synonym for justice. Diversity is a corporate strategy.

Consent needs to be present in order for it not to be considered rape. “No” means No & guys need to understand that.

What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.

Equal pay for women has always been an issue, eventhough we all know women work 10x harder than most men do.

When children attend schools that place a greater value on discipline and security than on knowledge and intellectual development, they are attending prep schools for prison.

Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the population into specimens in a zoo – obedient to our keepers, but dangerous to each other.

The only weapons that make me dangerous are my mind, mouth and pride, which will surely educate you.

Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of our social problems.

There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.

A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.

We must constantly encourage ourselves and each other to attempt the heretical actions that our dreams imply and so many of our old ideas disparage.

Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.

I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible.

How many things would you attempt if you knew you could not fail.

I can alter my life by altering my attitude. He who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers.