One of the unhappiest spectacles to be seen on our streets today is the image of a woman swathed in shapeless black from head to toe, peering out at the world through a tiny slit. The burka is not just an instrument of oppression of women and claustral repression of their liberty and their beauty; not just a token of egregious male cruelty and tragically cowed female submission. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
The people of Nicaragua were suffering oppression. This made us develop an awareness which eventually led us to commit ourselves to the struggle against the domination of the capitalists of our country in collusion with the US government, i.e. imperialism. Daniel Ortega
God and Country are an unbeatable team; they break all records for oppression and bloodshed. Luis Bunuel
But that the people are stronger than the government, and will resist in extreme cases, our governments would be little or nothing else than organized systems of plunder and oppression. Lysander Spooner
I am always revolted when Islamic leaders, from Afghanistan or elsewhere, deny the very existence of female oppression, avoid the issue by pointing to examples of what they view as Western mistreatment of women, or even worse, justify the oppression of women on the basis of notions derived from Sharia law. Khaled Hosseini
In no instance has a system in regard to religion been ever established, but for the purpose, as well as with the effect of its being made an instrument of intimidation, corruption, and delusion, for the support of depredation and oppression in the hands of governments. Jeremy Bentham, Constitutional Code; For the Use All Nations and All Governments Professing Liberal Opinions I
We despise and abhor the bully, the brawler, the oppressor, whether in private or public life, but we despise no less the coward and the voluptuary. No man is worth calling a man who will not fight rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong. Theodore Roosevelt
But there is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression. John Locke
I would like to see a time when man loves his fellow man and forgets his colour of his creed. We will never be civilized until that time comes. I know the Negro race has a long road to go. I believe that the life of the Negro race has been a life of tragedy, of injustice, of oppression. The law has made him equal, but man has not. Clarence Darrow, 1857-1938, speech 19th May 1926
Racism oppresses its victims, but also binds the oppressors, who sear their consciences with more and more lies until they become prisoners of those lies. They cannot face the truth of human equality because it reveals the horror of the injustices they commit. Alveda King
He who allows oppression shares the crime. Desiderius Erasmus
The worst government is often the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression. H L Mencken
Once social change begins it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid any more. We have seen the future, and the future is ours. Cesar Chavez
Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 25:17
Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? Job 10:3
By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. Job 35:9
He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression. Job 36:15
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Ecclesiastes 4:1
Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. Ecclesiastes 7:7
And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. Isaiah 3:5
As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. Isaiah 3:12
And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? Isaiah 51:13
In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Isaiah 54:14
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. Robert F Kennedy
But the kind Capitalist told them not to be insolent, and spoke to them about honesty, and said if they were not careful he would have their faces battered in for them by the police, or if necessary he would call out the military and have them shot down like dogs, the same as he had done before at Featherstone and Belfast. Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
The little work that remained to be done they did in silence, every man oppressed by the same terror – the dread of the impending want, the privation and unhappiness that they knew they and their families would have to suffer during the next few months. ibid.
The masses never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed. George Orwell, 1984
To have dominion by religion, is to have dominion over men’s souls, thus over their very spiritual life, and to use the Divine things, which are in their religion, as the means. Emanuel Swedenborg
‘Oppressors – don’t hold back.’ Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance 2007 starring Nick Twiney & Kerry Armstrong & Denise Roberts & Tara Morice & Ben Miller & Jane Hall & Nadine Garner & Toni Lamond & Noeline Brown & Josephine Barwick & Barry Crocker & Damon Gameau & Scott Irwin et al, director Daren Ashton, dance instructor
Take your clothes off. Titicut Follies, 1967, public hall
Patient: I need help. I just don’t know where I can get it.
Doctor: Well you’ll get it here, I guess. ibid.
We were making history. And there wasn’t nice and clean. There wasn’t easy. It was complex. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Erica Huggins, member, Netflix 2015
The police jump on you, beat you up, put the gun at your head, this is what we’re going through on a daily basis. ibid. Warne Pharr
We want freedom, we want decent housing, we want education for our people, we want an immediate end to police brutality. ibid. Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party demands that Huey P Newton be set free. ibid. Eldridge Cleaver
Free Breakfast For Children Served Here Every School Morning. ibid. sign
The reality is that the majority of the rank and file by the end of the ’60s are women. ibid. Claybourne Carson, historian
In other cities the Panthers were under physical attack from the police departments. But New York City was going to handle its Panther problem differently: they created a conspiracy case that allowed them to arrest the entire leadership of the New York City Black Panther Party. ibid. Jamal Joseph
He [Bobby Seale] kept insisting on his right to represent himself, and the judge’s response to that was to order the bailiffs to put gaffer tape over his mouth and tie him to his chair. ibid. Mike Gray, filmmaker
It was like a slaughterhouse. And there was blood all over the place. ibid. Mike Gray, re assassination of Fred Hampton
It was a death squad that did this raid. It was a police death squad. And the whole thing was set up by the FBI. ibid. historian
It was a split in the party. And within days we began to feel just how bad it was. ibid. William Calhoun
There are over 20 Panthers that remain in prison. ibid. caption