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.
A. Philip RandolphRead
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.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of standing up against violations of your rights.
A. Philip Randolph's quote asserts that when one faces the deprivation of their rights, it's crucial to actively resist and oppose such injustice. This resistance is not merely a passive feeling; it involves a strong emotional response of resentment and a commitment to fight back against those who seek to undermine fundamental rights.
In practice
During a protest or rally for civil rights.
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.
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.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The other reason that I am here today, again from the State Department and from the court record of the court of appeals, is that when I am abroad I speak out against the injustices against the Negro people of this land.
Honestly, I do not experience fear in the mountains. On the contraryI feel my shoulders straightening, squaring, like the birds as they straighten their wings. I enjoy the freedom and the altitude. It is only when I return to life below that I feel the world's weight on my shoulders.
Being a survivor doesn't mean being strong - it's telling people when you need a meal or a ride, company, whatever. It's paying attention to heart wisdom, feelings, not living a role, but having a unique, authentic life, having something to contribute, finding time to love and laugh. All these things are qualities of survivors.
To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage, or of principle.
What are you going to do? Admit to yourself that the pitchers have you on the point of surrender? You can't do that. You must make yourself think that the pitchers are just as good as they always have been or just as bad.
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