Assata Shakur Quotes

I think anybody who is honestly struggling against racism must struggle against imperialism and vice versa.

It is only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to us.

The people who are running this planet are insane - they are literally destroying it. I don't know where they think they're gonna drink water, breathe air.

I have been a political activist most of my life and many groups have attempted to label me as a criminal because of my outspoken beliefs. I am not a criminal and I have never been one.

People think that in order for something to work, it has to be complicated, but a lot of times the opposite is true. We usually reach success by putting the simple truths that we know into practice.

People ask me if I miss the States. I miss African Americans. But not the U.S. government or all the things they put me through. I miss African American culture, our speech, dance and cooking.

I believe in self-defense and self-determination for Africans and other oppressed people in America.

Tourism has affected Cuba, because tourists come and they bring racist, sexist ideas. They bring a whole vision that there are rich people all over the world and that's the way it should be.

I can't do nothin except try to find cloud nine.

Cuba has its own moral system and priorities. That's what keeps it going, the belief that the country can control its own destiny.

I couldn't see how we could seriously struggle without having a strong sense of collectivity, without being responsible FOR each other and TO each other.

We are pregnant with freedom.

I must confess that waltzes do not move me, I guess I hummed the blues too early, and spent too many midnights out wailing to the rain.

What most impressed me about Cuba was the optimism.

When I was a child, if someone had talked to me about buying water, I would have thought it was a joke.

I believe in life. And I have seen the death parade

People come telling the truth. When I ask how thing are in the States, they don't give me the okeydoke. They say, "Honey, things are hard." It reminds me I have to keep struggling.

A lot of contemporary American culture makes its way to this county. Cuba is not some gray, isolated backwater. This is a happening place.

I think that any time anybody gets rid of oppression, intervention, exploitation, cruelty - that's positive.

It never occurred to me that anyone would name a nuclear missile "Peacekeeper". It never occurred to me that thousands of people would be killed in the name of "peace-keeping".

I think that one of the great things that the Cuban revolution has done is preserve history.

I worked, studied, mothered and continued to be an activist. I found that Cuba was much different from the US; its government was genuinely trying to erase racism.

Every person that steps up and commits to social change helps solidify the black movement cause. It is not easy for those who fill in the leader role.

I miss friends and family. If it weren't for visits from old friends and other African Americans I meet who come to Cuba, I'd probably be in some kind of time warp.

I realized that I was connected to Africa.

I'm crafting a vision of my life that involves creativity. And Cuban society allows me to do this. I know it's harder in the U.S. where so many people are just grateful to have a job.

I had to adjust to living in a Third World country, which means that things people in the U.S. take for granted-like hot running water whenever you turn on the tap-are not always available.

Theory without practice is just as incomplete as practice without theory.

Racism had grown out of slavery and exploitation and was very hard to eradicate quickly and completely.

This planet is a wonderful place, but a vulnerable place.

I think that people who want to change this planet have to seriously understand that as human beings we have to work to be good.

I think it's really hard to plan if you don't believe you can implement those plans.

I'm truly blessed, because many of my friends come to Cuba. They like it here-they can relax and not worry about drive-by shootings or getting raped.

If the U.S. succeeds in destroying the revolution, my status will be like that of most Cubans: I'll be up a creek without a paddle. It will be devastating for people worldwide who believe in justice.

I have advocated and I still advocate revolutionary change

My fantasy of Cuba was that everybody was going to be going around looking like Fidel, with green uniforms - and it was very different from my vision of how Cuba was going to be.

The world, in spite of oppression, is a beautiful place.

I'm not quite sure what freedom is, but i know damn well what it ain't. How have we gotten so silly, i wonder.