It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.
Interpretation
Strong opinions alone are insufficient; action is required to drive positive change.
This quote emphasizes that merely holding strong beliefs or opinions is not enough if those beliefs do not translate into constructive actions. Coretta Scott King highlights the importance of using one's influence and power for the betterment of society; otherwise, inaction turns one into a contributor to the very issues they oppose.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage civic engagement.
I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy. The civil rights movement thrives on unity and inclusion, not division and exclusion. My husband's struggle parallels that of the gay rights movement.
...We have an historic opportunity for a great global healing and renewal. If we will accept the challenge of nonviolent activism with faith, courage, and determination, we can bring this great vision of a world united in peace and harmony from a distant ideal into glowing reality.
I think if people really read Martin Luther King, Jr., then they would begin to understand what he really represented.
Sometimes, I am also identified as a civil rights leader or a human rights activist. I would also like to be thought of as a complex, three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood human being with a rich storehouse of experiences, much like everyone else, yet unique in my own way, much like everyone else.
People don't ever have to starve to death; there are solutions. We have failed if we can't eradicate hunger in Africa and Ethiopia.
I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.
I'm optimistic. I see no longer people accepting fuzzy thinking in the world. The change is not that people aren't still saying under-informed things. The change is that if you're in power and you say something under-informed, there are people out there with a voice who will take you to task for having done so
Changing communities and changing our country is going to last a lot longer than how many footballs you catch or how many touchdowns you make.
And then something invisible snapped insider her, and that which had come together commenced to fall apart.
There is nothing permanent except change. Nothing is permanent except change. The only constant is change. Change is the only constant. Change alone is unchanging.
Our revolution in Burkina Faso draws on the totality of mans experiences since the first breath of humanity. We wish to be the heirs of all the revolutions of the world, of all the liberation struggles of the peoples of the Third World. We draw the lessons of the American revolution.
My hope is that the corona crisis will help bring us into a new age of cooperation and solidarity and a realization that we're in this together.
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