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Audre Lorde Quote On Fighting, Surviving, and Teaching In Order To Win Battles In Life

    “I have found that battling despair does not mean closing my eyes to the enormity of the tasks of effecting change, nor ignoring the strength and the barbarity of the forces aligned against us. It means teaching, surviving and fighting with the most important resource I have, myself, and taking joy in that battle. It means, for me, recognizing the enemy outside and the enemy within, and knowing that my work is part of our power, and knowing that this work did not begin with my birth nor will it end with my death. And it means knowing that within this continuum, my life and my love and my work has particular power and meaning relative to others.”

    Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals

    Beyond the Quote (153/365)

    Even when the tasks set in front of us for affecting change are massive—we mustn’t waver. We mustn’t close our eyes. We mustn’t let the size of the task stop us from taking every possible step we can to keep moving forward as individuals and as a society. For, any big change can only ever happen effectively as a result of a collective series of small efforts. These small efforts collect one by one from each individual person and person by person as a collective group. There is no one person who is “big” enough to handle this task on their own and there is no one person who is “small” enough to contribute to the collective effort that unites us as a whole.

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    Martin Luther King Jr. Quote on Violence and How To Fight For The Light Without Adding More Darkness

      “I’m concerned about a better world. I’m concerned about justice; I’m concerned about brotherhood; I’m concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

      Martin Luther King Jr.

      Beyond the Quote (152/365)

      “No justice, no peace” shouldn’t be interpreted as a direct call to violence. Rather, it’s a statement that so clearly points out that justice and peace go hand-in-hand and that without one, you simply cannot have the other. It’s a chant that means as long as injustice prevails, acting peacefully is a moral impossibility.  It’s a chant that points out that peace isn’t just the absence of war, but the presence of justice. For, how can we live in peace if we know that justice isn’t being upheld? What does unjust treatment mean for the people within a community? How can you feel peace if your sense of security is being directly threatened? If there is no justice, then something is seriously wrong and it is a threat to us all—and how can we live in peace knowing that?

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      Jane Addams Quote on True Peace Being About More Than Just The Absence Of War

        “True peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice.”

        Jane Addams

        Beyond the Quote (151/365)

        There is a time for words and there is a time for action. As a Martial Arts Instructor, I teach a very clear protocol to my students when it comes to self-defense situations: avoid potentially dangerous situations; be calm and breathe; communicate with confidence; and defend yourself if necessary. And if you find yourself in a situation of self-defense, use the minimum force necessary to deal with the aggressor in such a way that allows you to handle the situation properly and escape safely. I think these personal safety themes can help clear up what’s happening in response to the George Floyd police brutality case on a larger scale.

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        Quote on Acting in Situations of Injustice and How Silence Is As Bad As Injustice Itself

          “If you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

          Desmond Tutu

          Beyond the Quote (149/365)

          Love is as love does; Hate is as hate does; Indifference doesn’t do. Both hate and love do; care is involved.  In the case of love, we care for ourselves and others and so we express it in the form of positive, constructive, kind, mindful actions.  Love is not something that can be expressed through intention only.

          Read More »Quote on Acting in Situations of Injustice and How Silence Is As Bad As Injustice Itself

            “you tell me to quiet down cause

            my opinions make me less beautiful

            but i was not made with a fire in my belly

            so i could be put out

            i was not made with a lightness on my tongue

            so i could be easy to swallow

            i was made heavy

            half blade and half silk

            difficult to forget and not easy

            for the mind to follow”

            Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 30)

              “there is no bigger illusion in the world

              than the idea that a woman will

              bring dishonor into a home

              if she tries to keep her heart

              and her body safe”

              Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 24)

                “A person who makes selfish choices or acts contrary to their conscience will never be at peace. A person who sits back while others suffer or struggle will never feel good, or feel that they are enough, no matter how much they accomplish or how impressive their reputation may be. A person who does good regularly will feel good. A person who contributes to their community will feel like they are a part of one. A person who puts their body to good use—volunteering, protecting serving, standing up for—will not need to treat it like an amusement park to get some thrills.”

                Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 250)

                  “It’s a good idea to tell the person you are confronting exactly what you would like them to do instead of what they have done or currently are doing.  You might think, ‘if they loved me, they would know what to do.’ That’s the voice of resentment.  Assume ignorance before malevolence.  No one has a direct pipeline to your wants and needs—not even you.  If you try to determine exactly what you want, you might find that it is more difficult than you think.  The person oppressing you is likely no wiser than you, especially about you.  Tell them directly what would be preferable, instead, after you have sorted it out.  Make your request as small and reasonable as possible—but ensure that its fulfillment would satisfy you.  In that manner, you come to the discussion with a solution, instead of just a problem.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 287)

                    “Someone power-hungry makes a new rule at your workplace.  It’s unnecessary.  It’s counterproductive.  It’s an irritant.  It removes some of the pleasure and meaning from your work.  But you tell yourself it’s all right.  It’s not worth complaining about.  Then it happens again.  You’ve already trained yourself to allow such things, by failing to react the first time.  You’re a little less courageous.  Your opponent, unopposed, is a little bit stronger.  The institution is a little bit more corrupt.  The process of bureaucratic stagnation and oppression is underway, and you’ve contributed, by pretending that it was OK.  Why not complain?  Why not take a stand?  If you do, other people, equally afraid to speak up, may come to your defense.  And if not—maybe it’s time for a revolution.  Maybe you should find a job somewhere else, where your soul is less in danger from corruption.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Pages 214-215)

                      “When you have something to say, silence is a lie.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 91)

                        “What we do or don’t do right now, me and my generation can’t undo in the future. So when school started in August of this year, I decided that this was enough. I set myself down on the ground outside the Swedish parliament. I school striked for the climate. Some people say that I should be in school instead. Some people say that I should study to become a climate scientist so that I can ‘solve the climate crisis.’ But the climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change. And why should I be studying for a future that soon will be no more when no one is doing anything whatsoever to save that future? And what is the point of learning facts in the school system when the most important facts given by the finest science of that same school system clearly means nothing to our politicians and our society.” ~ Greta Thunberg, TED

                          “That’s the problem.  We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us.  What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”

                          Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Page 252)