They will not criminalise us, rob us of our true identity, steal our individualism, depoliticise us, churn us out as systemised, institutionalised, decent law-abiding robots. Never will they label our liberation struggle as criminal.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining individual identity and resisting oppression.
Bobby Sands expresses a powerful sentiment against the suppression of individual identity and the criminalization of those who resist systemic oppression. He asserts that their fight for liberation cannot be categorized as criminal, emphasizing the struggle for authenticity and personal freedom in the face of forces that seek to homogenize and dehumanize individuals within a society.
In practice
In a speech about social justice movements.
They won't break me because the desire for freedom, and the freedom of the Irish people, is in my heart. The day will dawn when all the people of Ireland will have the desire for freedom to show. It is then that we will see the rising of the moon.
I am dying not just to attempt to end the barbarity of H-blocks or to gain the rightful recognition of political prisoners, but primarily because what is lost here is lost for the Republic.
If a British government experienced such a long and persistent resistance to domestic policy in England, then that policy would almost certainly be changed... We have asserted that we are political prisoners, and everything about out country - our arrests, interrogations, trials, and prison conditions - show that we are politically motivated.
There can never be peace in Ireland until the foreign oppressive British presence is removed, leaving all the Irish people as a unit to control their own affairs and determine their own destinies as a sovereign people, free in mind and body, separate and distinct physically, culturally and economically.
My life now centered around sleepless nights and stand-bys, dodging the Brits and calming nerves to go out on operations. But the people stood by us. The people not only opened the doors of their homes to lend us a hand, but they opened their hearts to us. I learned that without the people, we could not survive and I knew that I owed them everything.
Well, I have gotten by twenty-seven years, so that is something. I may die, but the Republic of 1916 will never die. Onward to the Republic and liberation of our people.
Give us what belongs to us in peace, and if you don't give it to us in peace, we will take it by force.
Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It's tough to do that when we're terrified about what people might see or think.
Frequent and violent temptations were a proof that the citadel of the soul had not fallen and that the devil raged to make it fall.
It's time Pakistani women are able to stand up and hold their oppressors accountable, no matter how strong or influential they are. Don't be scared. They are strong because we are weak - lets change that.
I don't like standing near the edge of a platform when an express train is passing through. I like to stand right back and if possible get a pillar between me and the train. I don't like to stand by the side of a ship and look down into the water. A second's action would end everything. A few drops of desperation.
I have given my life and all I am to it, and now I want my last act to be to give it all I have, to the last cent.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.