Equal Rights
Page 6
- [Tamir Rice’s sister] could not reach him. Her arms could not cradle his body and plead for him to hang on. Her hands could not stroke his cheek, and she could not whisper hopefully, ‘It’s going to be O.K.’ Her eyes could not gaze into his and say what sisters are able to say without saying anything: ‘I love you.
- I don’t like [the pressure] that people put on me - on women - that you’ve failed yourself as a female because you haven’t procreated…This continually is said about me: that I was so career-driven and focused on myself; that I don’t want to be a mother, and how selfish that is…Even saying it gets me a little tight in my throat.
- Isn’t 007 supposed to [be] handsome? Glad you think I’ve got a shot!
- In South Carolina - in America - it takes a generation to go from having a grandfather who is picking cotton, to a grandson in Congress. We are thankful for those trailblazers who came before us and said the status quo was not enough…Our values and our issues are central. The most important things we have to offer are on the inside. This is the testament to progress made.
- There’s a prevailing idea that there’s something ethically wrong with being poor, and that America’s run according to Christian values. But when people are practicing genuine Christian values, they themselves are directly prosecuted…Let’s bear in mind that America just had midterm elections where $4 billion was spent on campaigning — [campaigning] is just telling you that something’s good. But feeding the homeless? That’s illegal.
- The most common occupation for women in G rated films is royalty - which is a great gig, if you can get it.
- Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights Act in every redistricting cycle from and after 1970.
- I was expecting some real, real rotten conduct by guys, and I didn't see that. I saw, ‘Hey, baby.’ ‘Looking good today, girl.’ ‘Have a good day.’ ‘How are you?’ ‘Ooh. Ooh. Looking good’ …It was men being polite. And it was men mildly aggressive…I mean, I don't do those kinds of things, but it didn't seem intimidating to me.
- On [one] Daily Show segment…women in the studio run through their tactics—listening to music, fake phone calls, looking straight down at the sidewalk and pretending not to hear. I, too, have a strategy. I deploy an advance attack: nodding and saying, “How’s it going?” before any man has a chance to be rude. In case you’ve missed the bigger point, let me spell it out for you: Women have strategies for walking down the street. If you’re a man, ask yourself whether you have a strategy beyond putting one foot in front of the other, and you might begin to see why street harassment becomes exhausting.
- We are not seeking revolution. We just want democracy!
- [In Pakistan], I had two options. One was not to speak and wait to be killed, and the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second.
- If you ask a Saudi Imam why women in Saudi Arabia can’t drive, he’ll say, ‘Because Islam demands it.’ But that’s absurd, because - first of all - Islam demands no such thing; and secondly, the only country in the world in which women can’t drive is Saudi Arabia. The inability to understand the difference between a cultural practice and religious belief is shocking among self-described intellectuals.