DeRay Mckesson Quotes
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Asking people for money is really different than asking people for their support.
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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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It is not a new tactic for people to use any avenue they can to silence black activists.
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People are not as imaginative as they think they are.
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It will always be important that people continue to push on the system from the outside. It will also be important that people make the changes that we know are necessary on the inside.
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Activism in the street is truth-telling, and organizing is talking to people for a specific goal.
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Black people have always been more than our pain. The joy is so much a part of how we have survived and thrived.
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I am mindful that the goal of protest is not more protest, but the goal of protest is change.
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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've never been a surrogate for Bernie, Hillary, or the DNC.
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I am not naive enough to believe that voting is the only way to bring about transformational change, just as I know that protest alone is not the sole solution to the challenges we face.
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Protest is political. It is as political as what our conception of America is.
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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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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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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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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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Baltimore is a city of possibility, and we've got to challenge the traditional pathways of politics and politicians who lay those paths.
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I think about all of my students who were math-phobic, who didn't believe they could learn math, who didn't understand, who didn't think they were smart enough, and by the end, they understood that they already had the gifts, and my job was to help them access them, and I believe that.
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I have a big following on Twitter, and Twitter has been invaluable for mobilizing and quickly sharing information. But I'm not really sure that people are learning deep content on Twitter.
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I think the reality is that there's a role for everybody to play in the work of social justice and that we have to organize everybody. That means that Silicon Valley has to be organized, the fashion industry has to be organized, the formerly incarcerated have to be organized, the teachers.
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I'm not desensitized to death.
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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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I think hope is the belief that tomorrow can be better than today, and I don't lose hope.
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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.