I'm not going to sit around and be peace and love with somebody's boot on my neck.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a refusal to passively accept oppression and a determination to assert one's freedom and rights.
Kathleen Hanna's quote highlights the importance of standing up against oppression and not remaining passive when faced with injustice. It stresses that true peace and love cannot exist in the presence of domination, and it urges individuals to fight for their dignity and autonomy rather than accepting subjugation quietly.
In practice
In a speech at a rally for social justice.
Sometimes, being a feminist artist, there are times where I'm in a position where I just want to feel like I'm saying all the right things politically, or I feel like I have to mention my own project over other people's projects. But I don't do that anymore. I just want to be off the cuff and honest.
It's now taken for granted that women are in bands and you can say feminist things in your songs. But back in the early '90s, there was a lot of violence at Bikini Kill shows that people don't realize happened.
When you speak up about any sense of unfairness or injustice, you're told that you're overreacting, you're too angry, too silly-shut up already. It takes a tremendous amount of fortitude to be able to live in this world as a woman, let alone a woman who wants things to change.
To make riot grrrl move into the future in a new way with a bunch of new names and a bunch of new energy, younger people have to learn about it and apply it to their own lives and own modern conversation. And they are.
Feminism rotates between backlash and interest. And the cool thing about the Internet is that it's allowing women more access to their own history. Part of the problem before the Internet was that we didn't know which books to read. Someone had to tell you.
You learn that the only way to get rock-star power as a girl is to be a groupie and bare your breasts and get chosen for the night. We learn that the only way to get anywhere is through men. And it's a lie.
These are the values inspiring those brave workers in Poland. The values that have inspired other dissidents under communist domination. They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost.
Together we have travelled a long road to be where we are today. This has been a road of struggle against colonial and apartheid oppression.
I grew up with a deep belief that wherever our troops fought, they were on the side of the angels.
There is so much history of this racist violence that simply to bring one person to justice is not going to disturb the whole racist edifice.
I think I'm attracted to subjects that I'm afraid of. It's a way to approach things I am afraid of, things that bring fear in my heart, and try to understand them, try to deal with them. It's like demons. I try to approach it and understand it... I'm just visiting fears.
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.
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