"I hope that my activism leaves a trail of impact by Empowering more people to feel empowered to see the power in their voices and use their voices to effect change around them"

"[My conviction] is inspired by a deep desire for change and justice, and the fact that as young South African people we are defined as ‘Born-Free’, but have never had a chance to interrogate freedom and ask questions about our democracy"

"Stay genuine to your cause, constantly ensure that you listen"

"the 1956 march continues to remain a “source of inspiration for me on the power that women’s voices hold and a source of inspiration to continue advocating for justice and human rights."

"Fear, anxiety, self doubt is normal. But at the end of the day, bravery is doing it regardless."

"Poverty is a manmade crisis"

"I believe that if we can work on empowering those schools, we'll definitely be doing a huge job in society"

"One of the things that the apartheid regime was very successful at was making all schools in rural areas and townships environments in which it's difficult to come out and be a leader in society"

"We need to ensure that previously poorly funded schools aren't continuing to be disadvantaged now"

"I believe young people are not as engaged in various aspects of activism, primarily because of being excluded"

"The most urgent thing that needs to happen to ensure that education is used as a tool to change the world is firstly, it needs to be accessible"

"I realised that you have one of two choices: either you try to speak up and see what the effects of speaking up will be, or you die in silence over the silent war you constantly find yourself in"

"I then began to see my hair as not just hair but a central core element of identity"

"One of the things that made me unable to escape activism was that growing up, I experienced a huge amount of anti-Blackness, which I became very aware of just being in a family with both my parents of colour"

"I still lived in a world where every last bit of your life was determined by your race: what kind of opportunities you're going to be exposed to, the kind of school you'll go to, the environment you’ll live in. My entire world still was determined on the basis of race."

"Young people make up a majority of the global population, but they are still not included in building a world that they are going to inherit"

"Black children see the diversity of the world around them and understand that just because someone doesn't look like them, that doesn't make them inferior"

"I was 13, 14 years old, a child basically, [and] I was receiving death threats from old white adults"

"I chose to be an activist because I don't want a generation of young South Africans to still be having the same kind of conversations about systemic and institutional racism 30 years from now"

"I chose to speak up because I felt it was an injustice of its own for me to see the reality of the institution and still choose to be silent."

"Your greatest power lies in proudly being yourself and that awakens a new level of consciousness"

"The hair policy is a symptom of a greater diagnosis of institutionalised racism and systemic racism"

"Societal beauty standards largely impact children’s self-esteem especially in a world where children are exposed to social media without any boundaries or limitations"

"Representation plays a huge role in prompting acceptance and inclusivity, as well as decolonising what is already represented out there, Whether It Be In Books, media outlets, or television"

"Bravery can co-exist with fear"

"You can't separate any expression of Black hair from Black identity, especially because for Black people it's more than just hair"

"I was being forced to assimilate to whiteness and being forced to assimilate to an image that I did not fit into"

"There was a pencil test [during the apartheid in South Africa],” she said. “If a pencil was put into your hair and when you shook your head, it did not slide out, you would pass for coloured, if it stayed inside you would be considered Black"

"You don’t need to justify your place, you are valid and so is your place here"

"I’ve always kept that close to my heart, understanding that everything I do is not just for me but for those who came before me who walked so I could fly, who did not have the means to do what I do but ensured that I would"

"I would like to see a South Africa where young people and the tools to empower them — such as education, literacy and employment — are prioritised"

"You are capable of being great regardless of anything anyone says."

"Never mind the wind and the rain, we’ll fight."

"We went into it with our eyes open. We were not afraid, and we were prepared to face jail and brutality. We knew that our struggle was just."

"When we joined the struggle, we never thought of ourselves as heroes. We only thought that it was our duty."

"Women have always been in the struggle, whether in the background or in the front. Without women, the movement would never have survived."

"I’m talking about the whole social justice system because it's not just the perpetrators. It is the victims, their families, everybody around them. So, this whole matter of bringing justice to victims has many dimensions."

"The voices of the women from Lavender Hill will be heard and respected."

"You will not move us today."

"the late activist would have her work cut for her, as she would find 3.11 million workers representing 25.3% of the workforce organised in trade unions, a shop steward movement which I believe has 300 000 men and women in almost every industry"

"She will have in her toolbox the most vanguard industrial labour relations, processes and procedures, rights and obligations in the Labour Relations Act"

"If Ray Alexander-Simons landed in Cape Town today, on the 7th of November 2016 and started organising workers five days later, which indeed she did when she landed in Cape Town in 1929, she would find a vastly different scenario," he said."

"Mrs Alexander-Simons's daughter, Ms Tanya Barben, said: "It is appropriate that the function takes place on the 7th of November for it is the date on which teenager Rachel Esther Alexandrowich (Ray Alexander) arrived in Cape Town from Latvia and it is also the anniversary of the October Revolution [which took place in Petrograd, Russia, from the 7th to the 8th of November, 1917]. She was undaunted when facing the bosses, the bargaining councils or the police forces. She sacrificed a lot, including her own family to fight for a democratic South Africa"

"Mabuyane said:We bid farewell to yet another colossal legend of our beloved Eastern Cape"

"We say rest in peace to Mama Diedericks, you have served your people with diligence, steadfastness, dignity, with your integrity and legacy intact"

"She will have legislation on Employment Equity, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act which incidentally updates the one Ray and her fellow unionists fought for in the late 1920s and 30s in the last century"