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If you’re deaf, dumb, and blind to what’s happening in the world, you’re under no obligation to do anything. But if you know what’s happening and you don’t do anything but sit on your ass, then you’re nothing but a punk.

Assata Shakur

People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Growth Oppression People Slave Tolerance
The methods of peaceful protests are not capable of being effective, because in reality most people pay little attention to things that are not abrasive.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Attention Capable Effective Method Peace People Protest Reality
I believe in life. And I have seen the death parade.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Believe Death Life
The first part of planning is to believe that you can put that plan into practice.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Believe Business Planning Practice
I believe in living, I believe in birth, I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth and I believe that a lost ship, steered by tired, sea sick sailors, can still be guided home to port.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Believe Birth Fire Home Live Love Sailor Ship Sweat Truth
Peace is a rare gift. Peace of mind, peaceful sleeps, and peaceful spirits are all luxuries that few rebels can ever afford.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Afford Gift Luxury Mind Peace Rare Rebel Sleep Spirit
Hip Hop can be a very powerful weapon to help expand young people’s political and social consciousness.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Consicious Help Hip Hop People Politics Powerful Social Weapon Young
Black people will never be free unless black women participate in every aspect of our struggle, on every level of our struggle.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Black Lives Matter Level Participation People Struggle Women Power
Theory without practice is just as incomplete as practice without theory.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Incomplete Motivational Practice Theory
I don’t have to live up to that Superwoman myth. I can cry and be human and lean on people who take care of me. That can be very liberating.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Care Cry Human Lean Liberty Live People Women
We need to be weapons of mass construction, weapons of mass love. It’s not enough just to change the system. We need to change ourselves.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Change Construction Love Ourselves System Weapon
We usually reach success by putting the simple truths that we know into practice.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Practice Success Truth
Imperialism is the underlying motor of racism. The underlying reason that racism keeps on being promoted in all of its various forms.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Form Promotion Racism Reason
If you’re deaf, dumb, and blind to what’s happening in the world, you’re under no obligation to do anything. But if you know what’s happening and you don’t do anything but sit on your ass, then you’re nothing but a punk.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Blind Deaf Dumb Obligation World
When I was a child, if someone had talked to me about buying water, I would have thought it was a joke.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Buy Children Joke Water
When you go through all your life processing and abusing your hair so it will look like the hair of another race of people then you are making a statement and the statement is clear.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Abuse Hairs Life People Process Race Statement

If you’re deaf, dumb, and blind to what’s happening in the world, you’re under no obligation to do anything. But if you know what’s happening and you don’t do anything but sit on your ass, then you’re nothing but a punk.

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If you’re deaf, dumb, and blind to what’s happening in the world, you’re under no obligation to do anything. But if you know what’s happening and you don’t do anything but sit on your ass, then you’re nothing but a punk.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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