John Lewis
We all live in the same house, we all must be part of the effort to hold down our little house. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just... do something about it. Say something. Have the courage. Have the backbone. Get in the way. Walk with the wind. It's all going to work out.Collection: Courage
We are one people with one family. We all live in the same house... and through books, through information, we must find a way to say to people that we must lay down the burden of hate. For hate is too heavy a burden to bear.Collection: Family
We are one people; we are only family. And when we finally accept these truths, then we will be able to fulfill Dr. King's dream to build a beloved community, a nation, and a world at peace with itself.Collection: Peace
In Selma, Alabama, in 1965, only 2.1 percent of blacks of voting age were registered to vote. The only place you could attempt to register was to go down to the courthouse. You had to pass a so-called literacy test. And they would tell people over and over again that they didn't or couldn't pass the literacy test.Collection: Age
Before we went on any protest, whether it was sit-ins or the freedom rides or any march, we prepared ourselves, and we were disciplined. We were committed to the way of peace - the way of non-violence - the way of love - the way of life as the way of living.Collection: Peace
The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.Collection: Faith
You have to tell the whole truth, the good and the bad, maybe some things that are uncomfortable for some people.Collection: Good
Rosa Parks inspired me to find a way to get in the way, to get in trouble... good trouble, necessary trouble.Collection: Good
The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.Collection: Society
What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and its grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.Collection: Love
Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division.Collection: Home
Without prayer, without faith in the Almighty, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.Collection: Faith
Be hopeful. Be optimistic. Never lose that sense of hope.Collection: Hope
There may be some difficulties, some interruptions, but as a nation and as a people, we are going to build a truly multiracial, democratic society that maybe can emerge as a model for the rest of the world.Collection: Society
When I was 15 years old and in the tenth grade, I heard of Martin Luther King, Jr. Three years later, when I was 18, I met Dr. King and we became friends. Two years after that I became very involved in the civil rights movement. I was in college at that time. As I got more and more involved, I saw politics as a means of bringing about change.Collection: Change
The press is supposed to serve as a check on government.Collection: Government
I believe in forgiveness; I believe in trying to work with people.Collection: Forgiveness
Sometimes I feel like crying, tears of happiness, tears of joy, to see the distance we've come and the progress we've made.Collection: Happiness
We come to Selma to be renewed. We come to be inspired. We come to be reminded that we must do the work that justice and equality calls us to do.Collection: Equality
It was not enough to come and listen to a great sermon or message every Sunday morning and be confined to those four walls and those four corners. You had to get out and do something.Collection: Morning
Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be - you get out and push and you pull and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men and women of good will in power to act.Collection: Women
Now we have black and white elected officials working together. Today, we have gone beyond just passing laws. Now we have to create a sense that we are one community, one family. Really, we are the American family.Collection: Family
The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.
When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.
You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way... to get in the way.
Never give up. Never give in. Never become hostile... Hate is too big a burden to bear.
Sometimes I hear people saying, 'Nothing has changed.' Come and walk in my shoes.
We must be headlights and not taillights.
We must bring the issue of mental illness out into the sunlight, out of the shadow, out of the closet, deal with it, treat people, have centers where people can get the necessary help.
I don't understand it, how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam and cannot send troops to Selma, Alabama, to protect people whose only desire is to register to vote.
The vote is precious. It's almost sacred, so go out and vote like you never voted before.
We must continue to go forward as one people, as brothers and sisters.
The party of Kennedy is also the party of Eastland. The party of Javits is also the party of Goldwater.
There is a need for a movement of non-violent direct action.
Too many of us still believe our differences define us.
We're one people, and we all live in the same house. Not the American house, but the world house.
Selma was the turning point.
It's a shame and a disgrace that so few people take part in the political process.
When you make mistakes, when you're wrong, you should admit you're wrong and ask people to forgive you.
If you're not hopeful and optimistic, then you just give up. You have to take the long hard look and just believe that if you're consistent, you will succeed.
There's nothing wrong with a little agitation for what's right or what's fair.
If it hadn't been for that march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, there would be no Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.
We had teachers, we had high school principals, we had people teaching in colleges and university in Tuskegee, Alabama. But they were told they failed the so-called literacy test.
Never become bitter, and in the process, be happy and just go for it.
Black men and women were not allowed to register to vote. My own mother, my own father, my grandfather and my uncles and aunts could not register to vote because each time they attempted to register to vote, they were told they could not pass the literacy test.
I believe race is too heavy a burden to carry into the 21st century. It's time to lay it down. We all came here in different ships, but now we're all in the same boat.
I do not agree with what Mr. Snowden did. He has damaged American international relations and compromised our national security. He leaked classified information and may have jeopardized human lives. That must be condemned.
In the past the great majority of minority voters, in Ohio and other places that means African American voters, cast a large percentage of their votes during the early voting process.
We need someone who is going to stand up, speak up, and speak out for the people who need help, for the people who have been discriminated against.
The March on Washington was a March for Jobs and Freedom. There are still too many people who are unemployed or underemployed in America - they're black, white, Latino, Native American and Asian American.