You cannot be afraid to speak up and speak out for what you believe. You have to have courage, raw courage.
This is the age of fear and so many of us feel afraid to speak out about what has happened to our lives in the wake of 911. Television promotes the world as a scary place for the United States and this justifies peeling away every element of privacy we had before. The media is monopolized so we don't even hear a lot of dissent about this new era.
Anytime you're the first to speak out against something, there's going to be a backlash.
The press must speak out and, if the occasion arises, raise bloody hell.
Hate can only exist where people refuse to speak out against it.
We want to make certain that every American who stood in silent tribute to Rosa Parks hopes that the Sepreme Court Judge will break silence and speak out clearly for the civil rights that define our unity as a nation.
Sometimes, people call my way of speaking ranting. Why are you always ranting and screaming, they ask. But here’s the thing…the reason why I rant is because I am a voice for many women that cannot speak out to heads of state, UN officials, and those that influence systems of oppression. And so I rant. And I will not stop ranting until my mission of equality of all girls is achieved.
When I speak out against the guns or against the big corporations, some of my friends say, 'Oh Yoko, be careful. These people have all the power. ' But, you know, most people don't speak out because they are frightened.
These women need to feel that we're all aware of what they may be going through, to give them the confidence to speak out.