I learned to deal with the police... to be tough... to survive.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the necessity of resilience and toughness in difficult circumstances, particularly in dealing with authority.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's quote speaks to the harsh realities faced by individuals fighting against oppression and injustice. It highlights the need to develop strength and coping mechanisms in order to navigate challenging environments, particularly when one is confronted with systemic authority like the police. This aptitude for survival is often born from the experience of adversity and the struggle for freedom.
In practice
During a presentation on civil rights, this quote could illustrate the resilience required to challenge systemic injustices.
In the normal course of things, journalists want their story, and as soon as they are through with it, they pack their cameras and go. That was never the impression that David Astor gave when you were interviewed by him. It was far deeper than that.
One of the greatest things I fear is letting down my people. I wouldn't live with that type of conscience, of having let down my people after they've been brutalized for so long.
I wanted to be a doctor at some point, and I was always bringing home strays from school: people who were too poor to pay fees or have food. My parents never rebuked me or told me that they were hard-pressed, too.
We shall liberate our country.
I am not sorry. I will never be sorry. I would do everything I did again if I had to. Everything.
The solution of this country's problems lies in black hands.
The oppression of women knows no ethnic nor racial boundaries, true, but that does not mean it is identical within those boundaries.
In so many places in the world, women have been prisoners for so long that they feel they have to scream about their rights. But when you scream, nobody listens to you. Real authority comes when you no longer need to scream - and that's something we women still need to learn.
Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me.
You can't be afraid of people willing to hurt you, cause if you fear life, then you will never live
If you would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from heaven. For he who give the us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready to succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in his grace.
Better to stay alive," I said. "At least while there's a chance to get free." I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.