Salvation for a race, nation or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted.
Interpretation
True freedom and justice must be earned through collective efforts, rather than simply given by external forces.
A. Philip Randolph emphasizes that for any group—be it a race, nation, or class—salvation and progress must originate from their own actions and convictions. Freedom and justice are not passive gifts bestowed upon people; they are hard-won achievements that require struggle and determination to secure. This perspective highlights the importance of self-empowerment and the active pursuit of social justice.
In practice
During a civil rights rally to inspire action and unity among participants.
We must develop huge demonstrations, because the world is used to big dramatic affairs. They think in terms of hundreds of thousands and millions and billions... Billions of dollars are appropriated at the twinkling of an eye. Nothing little counts.
Negroes are in no mood to shoulder guns for democracy abroad while they are denied democracy here at home.
Justice is never given; it is exacted.
Since almost all Negroes are workers, live on wages, and suffer from the high cost of food, clothing and shelter, it is obvious that the Republican and Democratic Parties are opposed to their interests.
Negroes must be free in order to be equal, and they must be equal in order to be free... Men cannot win freedom unless they win equality. They cannot win equality unless they win freedom.
If someone tried to deprive you of your rights, you've got to resist it. You've got to resent it. You've got to fight against it.
That was what gospel was meant to do - make you hate and love yourself at the same time, make you ashamed and glorified.
When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence. When middling people hear of the Way, it sometimes seems to be there, sometimes not. When lesser people hear of the Way, they ridicule it greatly. If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Way.
His life, measured in space and time, will take up a mere few lines, which my ignorance will abbreviate further.
Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that.
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
The door to the soul is unlocked; you do not need to please the doorkeeper, the door in front of you is yours, intended for you, and the doorkeeper obeys when spoken to.
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