I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
Paul RobesonRead
This United States Government should go down to Mississippi and protect my people. That is what should happen.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for the government to take action to protect marginalized communities.
In this quote, Paul Robeson is calling for the United States government to actively intervene and safeguard the rights and welfare of African Americans in Mississippi. It reflects his belief that it is the duty of those in power to ensure justice and protection for vulnerable populations, highlighting a sense of responsibility and urgency for government action against systemic injustices.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for civil rights.
I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
We ask for nothing that is not ours by right, and herein lies the great moral power of our demand.
My mother was born in your state, Mr. Walter, and my mother was a Quaker, and my ancestors in the time of Washington baked bread for George Washington's troops when they crossed the Delaware, and my own father was a slave.
The intolerance of the few, or the risk of it, carries the day against the wider humanity of the many.
I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom
And at home in the United States we found continued and increased persecution, first of leaders of the Communist Party, and then of all honest anti-fascists.
The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode.
The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible, but these obstacles have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore...unlike the mediocre, intrepid spirits seek victory over those things that seem impossible...it is with an iron will that they embark on the most daring of all endeavors...to meet the shadowy future without fear and conquer the unknown.
There is no law for farm labor organizing, save the law of the jungle.
I'd been in jail, and I'd been beat. I had been to a voter registration workshop, you know, to - they were just training and teaching us how to register, to pass the literacy test.
In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want β not only you, your whole family and all people like you.
I'd like to say I'm ready to kick ass and show the guys how it's done. But I'm not here to prove anything about being a woman. I'm here to drive a race car and try to win a race.
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