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I'm not desensitized to death.
DeRay Mckesson
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Everybody has told the story of black people in struggle except black people. The black people in the struggle haven't had the means to tell the story historically. There were a million slaves, but you see very few slave narratives. And that is intentional.
DeRay Mckesson
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There are very few things that I don't talk about - even my relationships.
DeRay Mckesson
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There is nothing romantic about teargas. Or smoke bombs or rubber bullets or sound cannons.
DeRay Mckesson
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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.
DeRay Mckesson
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If anything, any success that I have ever experienced has been because people who didn't have to care about me did, and they pushed me to see things in myself that I did not see in myself at the time.
DeRay Mckesson
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I think about freedom as not only as the absence of oppression but also the presence of justice and joy.
DeRay Mckesson
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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.
DeRay Mckesson
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I have a platform, and I can help. I can be in spaces that reporters will never be in because I'm a protester.
DeRay Mckesson
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When I tweet, I'm mostly preaching to the choir.
DeRay Mckesson
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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?
DeRay Mckesson
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I take statements that portray untrue statements about me seriously.
DeRay Mckesson
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Politics is compromise, by its very nature. But we never compromise on our values and beliefs.
DeRay Mckesson
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I'm not convinced that stealing an iPhone is a felony or stealing a bike is a felony.
DeRay Mckesson
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I'm not a politician. I'm somebody who knows the world can be better, and I'm willing to fight for it.
DeRay Mckesson
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We question these issues of race and struggle and white privilege because we know that those issues are real and because those issues have real implications in black communities. And white supremacy is not only dangerous, but it is deadly.
DeRay Mckesson
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You're not born woke. Something wakes you up.
DeRay Mckesson
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I think about Twitter as the friend that's always awake. It's why I tweet so much.
DeRay Mckesson
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Some people are more interested in fighting than winning.
DeRay Mckesson
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Systemic change rarely comes overnight.
DeRay Mckesson
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The arts scene in Baltimore is really rich and very vibrant. It's one of the untold stories of the city.
DeRay Mckesson
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What we choose to do today and tomorrow will shape our future and build our reality.
DeRay Mckesson
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As a protester, I protested because I had to, not because it was exciting. I don't want to get tear-gassed again.
DeRay Mckesson
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I am running to be the 50th mayor of Baltimore in order to usher our city into an era where the government is accountable to its people and is aggressively innovative in how it identifies and solves its problems.
DeRay Mckesson
