“I don’t have any extraordinary gifts. I’m just an average Joe who grew up very poor in rural Alabama.”

We must continue to go forward as one people, as brothers and sisters.

I truly believe that one day we will get there, we will arrive. And if we do it right in America, maybe, just maybe, we can serve as a model for the rest of the world.

We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

I say from time to time that the vote is precious.

Without our faith, we wouldn’t have been able to succeed.

The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.

People should organize people to just turn up and participate in the democratic process. Knock on doors.

You have to take the long hard look and just believe that if you’re consistent, you will succeed.

Some of us gave a little blood for the right to participate in the democratic process.

We need some creative tension; people crying out for the things they want.

You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right.

It is our responsibility to leave this planet cleaner and greener.

The lessons of nonviolence are universal.

The reward for playing jazz is playing jazz.

If you come together with a mission, and it’s grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.

Our struggle is a struggle to redeem the soul of America. It’s not a struggle that lasts for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. It is the struggle of a lifetime, more than one lifetime.