Selma James famous quotes

We have needed to define ourselves by reclaiming the words that define us. They have used language as weapons. When we open ourselves to what they say and how they say it, our narrow prejudices evaporate and we are nourished and armed.
-- Selma James

#Weapons #Prejudice #Language

Revolutions are notorious for allowing even non-participants -- even women! -- new scope for telling the truth since they are themselves such massive moments of truth, moments of such massive participation.
-- Selma James

#Revolution #Telling The Truth #Moments

It is not women's fault if we are so tender. It is in the nature of the lives we live. And further, it would be a terrible catastrophe if men had to live men's lives and women's also. Which is precisely what has happened today -- to women.
-- Selma James

#Women #Today #Faults

Having the children you want, not having the children you don't want but in order to do that you have to have the right to abortion and the right to pay equity, those two give you choice. One or the other does not.
-- Selma James

#Children #Order #Two

The United States is in many ways the biggest ghetto in the world.
-- Selma James

#Ghetto #United States #World

The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.

The ideal weapons system is built in 435 congressional districts and it doesn't matter whether it works or not.

The Assault Weapons Ban deals with a fictional distinction. You have guns that are exactly the same guns as are banned, in function, that were banned because of the way they look. And you know, that's the whole truth of this policy: it's to make politicians look as if they are doing something, when in point of fact, they are doing nothing.

Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks.

The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.

The emancipation of women from intemperance, injustice, prejudice, and bigotry. see Edgar Y. Harburg, We Gotta be Free

The true Tarot is symbolism; it speaks no other language and offers no other signs.

Music is all about transporting people; speaking a language which languages fail to express.

We breathe in our first language, and swim in our second.

It was like we were exchanging codes, on how to be a father and a daughter, like we'd read about it in a manual, translated from another language, and were doing our best with what we could understand.