Assata Shakur Quotes

Where there is oppression, there will be resistance.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Oppression Resistance
We’re taught at such an early age to be against the communists, yet most of us don’t have the faintest idea what communism is. Only a fool lets somebody else tell him who his enemy is.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Age Community Enemy Fools Ideas Teaching
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
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
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
It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Duty Each Other Fight Freedom Lose Love Support Win
If we are not committed to saving this earth we will be buying designer air filters and gas masks.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Air Commitment Design Earth Filter Gas Mask Save
I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty, the politicians who lie to us with smiling faces, and all the mindless, heartless, robots who protect them and their property.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Declare Face Heartless Politics Poverty Property Prosperity Protect Robot Smile
No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Education Freedom Hero History Knowledge Teaching
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
Black revolutionaries do not drop from the moon. We are created by our conditions. Shaped by our oppression.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Black Condition Creation Drop Moon Oppression Racism Revolution Shape
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
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
Theory without practice is just as incomplete as practice without theory.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Incomplete Motivational Practice Theory
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
I believe in life. And I have seen the death parade.
ASSATA SHAKUR

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

Believe Business Planning Practice
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
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 first part of planning is to believe that you can put that plan into practice.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Believe Business Planning Practice
Where there is oppression, there will be resistance.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Oppression Resistance
We are pregnant with freedom.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Freedom Pregnant
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
A revolutionary woman can’t have no reactionary man. If he’s not about liberation, if he’s not about struggle, if he ain’t about building a strong Black family, if he ain’t about building a strong Black nation, then he ain’t about nothing.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Liberty Man Nation Reaction Revolution Struggle Woman
We’re living in a very tricky world, and unless we become analytical and expose the tricknology, people will become sucked into that. It is very easy, it is very, very easy.
ASSATA SHAKUR

Easy Expose Live People Suck Trick World

Other Famous Personalities