Human Rights Activists

"Believing in the power of LOVE was what I held onto fighting for my dear life."

"When one's existence which has seemed quite secure suddenly melts away. . . when every security fails and every support gives way—then one stands face to face with the Eternal and confronts Him without protection and with fearful directness. . . When imprisonment has lasted a certain time it ceases to be punishment. One has removed one’s self from ordinary life and slowly begins to find a new standard."

"How can I not hesitate before accepting? Are we sufficiently aware, against the background of the darkest chapter in German history, of how guilty we are for rescuing no more than a tiny droplet out of the endless sea of despair of that period? Righteous can therefore have no other meaning than the attempt, the obligation, to do what is right and to live humanly even during times of inhumanity."

"I am fully conscious of the fact that my late husband and I did nothing special; we simply tried to remain human in the midst of inhumanity."

"Ensuring robust national referral mechanisms (NRMs), which are resourced and functional in implementation is an important step in identification, individual assistance and support, criminal justice and redress and social inclusion of victims and survivors of human trafficking. The design of effective victim and survivor support should incorporate the lived experience and professional expertise of survivor leaders and be tailored to the needs of individual survivors."

"Let the ward councilor, let the church people, let the professional in and around the school show interest in the schools not the school governing body only"

"These schools where there is no order where there is no accountability, these are the schools where parents do not match up the demands of their children"

"Parents do not visit schools. Sometimes even where the schools have occasions where they want the support of the community they are just not there at all"

"You find that our SGBs, that it school governing bodies, themselves cannot match, the school principal cannot match the teachers, let alone that, in some cases they cannot match the very children that they are supposed to help or assist, so its that kind of free for all scenario"

"The teachers are playing truant, teachers will play sick, and teachers so know how many days they are entitled to for leave that the principal or the school governing body are unable to deal with them"

"Until we do that we are unable to understand what we need or expect of children"

"Poetry is part of the struggle. You use the armed struggle; you use political methods… You recite a poem. It’s better than a three-hour speech. It gets to the heart of the matter. It moves people"

"Our nation owes her an enormous debt of gratitude and appreciation for all the sacrifices she has made throughout her life as a committed freedom fighter, a determined cultural and literary activist and a champion for women’s emancipation. She was a phenomenal woman; a woman of grace; a woman of elegance; an embodiment of humility; and courage and dedication personified. Her use of poetry and other writings as a weapon against the brutal and iniquitous system of apartheid created hope for many who could not return to the place of their birth"

"But fortunately the teachers some of them will know that they have to be at work. The question is what do they do, do they have the capacity? [...], so let the government assist the teachers. The government has not engaged them in development projects at all"

"On behalf of my mother, Lindiwe Mabuza we thank Rhodes University for this prestigious award. As a family, we are both humbled and honoured at the recognition of her contribution and commitment to the struggle and her beloved country, South Africa. It is most heartening that she was aware of this accolade as she received the letter from Rhodes shortly before her death. Indeed, I am convinced she is smiling down from the heavens"

"I gathered up books and all the free newspapers,” she said. “I found Blacklines [which was merged with En la Vida to form the online publication Identity] and read it from front to back. I called every number in the resource section that seemed like it was for Black lesbian women. The only one that called back was Affinity, and that’s how I became involved with them. I went to a meeting, scared to death—drove down from Lincoln Park to 62nd and Indiana. My life was changed from that point."

"You can come into social justice work early or late,“I landed this first executive director position without a degree, but I had a lot of experience, a lot of passion, some skills and I was given a chance.” For those wanting to follow a similar path i suggests volunteering, taking classes and networking: “Go to events, meet people, get outside your comfort zone. And follow your passion."

"If a gay person doesn’t have healthcare, or a job that provides healthcare, that’s economic—plus gender, plus LGBT. It is all intertwined,All the issues hold high importance. When everything is not balanced the way it should be in society, you have a lack of justice. I could leave CAF someday and work in affordable housing because it is all tied together.”"

"There were only about 30 Black kids in my class. It was the 1980s and there was still a lot of racism, a lot of isolation, separation. I remember being targeted in certain classes,"

"The high school environment was very traumatic for me, but it was a powerful learning experience. It wasn’t easy, but it made me in a lot of ways. Seeing what is right and what is wrong and not backing down from that and refusing to have my voice stifled."

"“I had left an abusive marriage. I did not get involved with women because of this, but after leaving the relationship I found I was attracted to one of my co-workers,”"

"“I did not come out in the bars. I came out into activism."

"Our collective action aimed to urge Koidu Limited to enhance working conditions and provide better services for all employees"

"I’ve said this and I continue to say it: The reason why we have the situations we have in Africa today is because of the silence,We cover our ears to what is happening to women."

"If the people want to vote for my husband, they’ll vote for him. If they don’t want to vote for him, don’t vote for him. But what we need to say is … it’s better to be remembered for doing a good thing than to be remembered for protecting a political seat"

"Until people can show me what FGM is doing in Sierra Leone, I’m not part of the conversation"

"This protest is a call to action for the company to improve the working conditions and provide better services. We believe that these demands are reasonable and essential for maintaining the well-being and dignity of workers"

"The emotion is not about feeling somebody else’s pain — it’s about feeling my own pain"

"As a proud daughter of the soil, I joined my brothers and sisters working at the Koidu Limited Mining Company in Kono Town to peacefully protest"

"You cannot take away the fact that you have more women in Africa than men, and if you’re going to deprive women in Africa to be [left] behind, then definitely, nothing is going to grow."

"[At that time], the law still gave the power to the family or a guardian to give consent. So where the child says no, an adult could say yes — and they could still go ahead and marry that child off,For that reason, I decided that I’m not going to wait for policies and government."

"I call on all other African leaders to emulate what my husband has done to introduce free education for children from pre-primary to secondary school"

"When you bring [this topic] up in Africa, it could immediately cost your husband his next election"

"If you have heard anything negative, in the past, about Sierra Leone, I am here to confidently inform you that Sierra Leone is the most beautiful country in the world"

"The greatest achievement is not the number of awards you receive but the number of lives of Africans you have changed"

"Empowering women is crucial in this endeavor, as they often play a pivotal role in child-rearing"

"By recognizing the family as the foundation of societal well-being, we acknowledge the critical role families play in shaping the next generation."

"Let us seize this moment to prioritize family strengthening and women’s empowerment, paving the way for a brighter future for Sierra Leone"

"Even during our political campaigns, there were people who used to question why was I playing such a leading role. But because of my empowerment, I was focused and determined to support my husband to become our President"

"I know what it means to be a victim, and it is only by the grace of God that you find yourself in a situation like that and get out of it, and get out and become somebody"

"This evening is about more than fellowship — it is about shaping a new world together. With partnerships like NBPA, World Shoe, and OAFLAD, we are showing that women and children will no longer be afterthoughts in development, but the very heart of it."

"Q: Some new projects like the Desmund Tutu forgiveness project are promoting forgiveness as a way forward from violence. In the closing chapters of your book, you also wrote about forgiveness. You have known pain; day by day, more people are experiencing undeserved pain with the many incidence of violence in our world today. Is Forgiveness the solution? A: In our culture in Somalia, we do not go to the court when offended. Culturally, we select wise elderly people to sit and decide over disputes. To the offender, they punish and to the offended, they say please forgive. Sometimes the punishment of the offender is the price of Camels or Cows. This way, people whose rights are violated become happy. We never hold on to grudge, we forgive each other immediately because we were the children of one father. This was Somali culture; this is why I crave for the return of that culture. We can stop these court cases and proceedings that require appeals upon appeals and corruption. Now they divide by clan, clans are no solution; the solution is one society where we have understanding of oneness with no clan division and where no man is allowed to beat his wife or another person."

"Q: Tell me about Somalia as you know it. A: Somalia was a very strong country, my favourite African country. They developed really fast then and Mogadishu was the prettiest city in the world before everything collapsed. All who fought for independence and showed patriotism were greeted with shock at its fall. In our time, we were trying to hold on the clans but the men just want to be angry, to fight and to kill. Clan mentality was destructive but our people didn’t listen or understand this, and then we lost a lot. People of importance have fled the land, and some died. Some became sick with stroke and are now living daily on their beds. These things have changed Mogadishu. In later years, with the formation of a new government, Somalia’s in Diaspora came back with big hope after waiting for years. Expectations were high, but not much has happened there. One day I hope we will pass this situation and go to the peace side."

"We settled on the bra protest. We thought it would be most appropriate for what had happened. It’s not like we were saying we don’t respect ourselves. We were disgusted by what had been done."

"I was seriously offended that a police force that is supposed to protect us had assaulted a woman in front of everyone."

"I felt down as a citizen of this country to know that our police force, which is obligated to protect us, could abuse a woman in full view. I was silent for a while as I tried to internalise what I had just seen. The next day i knew for sure that we would have to do something. We couldn't let this pass."

"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."

"If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just."

"Business itself is now the most powerful force for change in the world today, richer and faster by far than most governments."

"In a way, campaigning with The Hepatitis C Trust is business as usual. I've always felt that activism is my rent for living on this planet."