DeRay Mckesson Quotes
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I am often asked what it is like to be on the 'front line.' But I do not use the term 'front line' to describe us, the protesters. Because everywhere in America, wherever we are, our blackness puts us in close proximity to police violence.
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As a gay black man, it's important to me to show up - that I'm able to show up as my whole self, in every space that I'm in, because that's how I'm able to be the most true to who I am.
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It is one thing to talk about fundraising and another to do it as a candidate, and I have learned so much about how much money it costs to run a campaign and what it means to raise money.
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The difference between equity and equality is that equality is everyone get the same thing and equity is everyone get the things they deserve.
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Music helps shape the way people think about the world and act in the world.
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There will always be a rule. There will be people who break the rules. There will be consequences. We fundamentally think these things will be true for a time. The question becomes, What are the consequences? Who enforces the consequences? What are the worst consequences?
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Laws on hate speech and hate crimes do important work in a world that has been rooted in racism and bigotry since the inception of this country, which was not founded on ideals of justice.
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The activism of marginalized people often comes with visibility and being heard. Which can lead people to believe that recognition and awareness is the actual end point. And it is not.
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If City Hall started projecting swastikas, no one would say 'You know what? Free speech.' People would say that is wrong.
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What we know to be true is that comfort isn't always freedom. People confuse the two.
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I think about freedom and the urgency around our imagination. If you can't imagine it, you can't fight for it.
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Being mayor is about offering a vision for the city, putting the right people in the right place, and executing that vision.
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I think people who are not from here think the Inner Harbor is the only center for culture or fun in the city, and there's so much more to Baltimore. The Harbor's a beautiful place, but there are so many gems embedded in other communities that don't get as much visibility.
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A lot of organizers are trying to figure out how do we create entrances for people so they can be involved in the work in a way that makes them feel is aligned to the things they're interested in and not the things the organizer is interested in?
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The first time I was ever impressed with Patagonia as a brand was when they released the 'Don't Buy This Jacket' campaign. That campaign highlighted their understanding of their role in a larger environmental justice space.
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It's important to acknowledge the danger when we provide an academic venue for racism. It's interesting to hear people push the, quote, 'free speech' narrative in this way. They deny the speech of the people who disagree.
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There are very few things that I don't talk about - even my relationships.
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Twitter is half me trying to live in the world and half me processing and sharing the world. I share a lot, and some of that is to keep me honest.
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I've worked in two public school districts, Minneapolis and Baltimore, one as a senior leader. And while we might not always have agreed with the union, and we might have had deep differences, they came to the table.
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People are not as imaginative as they think they are.
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There is nothing romantic about teargas. Or smoke bombs or rubber bullets or sound cannons.
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Politics is compromise, by its very nature. But we never compromise on our values and beliefs.
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The police, at their best, do three things; they prevent crime, they respond to crime, and they solve crime. In all three of those buckets, they need the trust of the community to do it, so I believe that if we restore the trust that we will change the way police are experiencing communities and ways that will preserve life and make everyone safer.
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When I tweet, I'm mostly preaching to the choir.