activists-from-san-francisco

"The future of our country depends on our educational institutions. They will be kept democratic."

"You felt that she cared greatly about you as an individual. She believe in you and what you could become, and her faith in you, like her optimism, was contagious, giving you self-confidence and power so that you could not doubt yourself. She had a strange capacity for making you feel capable of anything."

"She is a life member of more literary organizations than probably any other woman of California."

"Today in a land where all women inherit civic responsibility, where professions and business are open to all comers without distinction of sex, leadership through direct influence is woman’s unchallenged heritage."

"as distinguished a Unitarian as there is in the land"

"Let us not forget that the future includes more women in the ministry than we have ever known before."

"Religion and education meet in their responsibility to make possible the abundant life—the terms are intellectual and spiritual, rather than material. Humane living is assured only to those ... who have disciplined themselves to choose and who have the ardor to strive for the excellent “with heart and soul and mind.”"

"There are two things one should see on a trip West: the Grand Canyon and Dr. Reinhardt."

"Yesterday’s woman was expected to have individual interests, caring for the brightness of the hearth fire and the comforts of the family group. Today she has inherited the community and the community’s welfare. Civics, religion and education have become her field of activity. She is homemaker and citizen."

"[E]ducation in a democracy, in our democracy, must use all the instruments of civilization, home, church, community, as well as school, for the adequate, suitable development of each child. This means that character and imagination, as well as heart and hand, are developed together."

"Horace Mann said that one former was worth a thousand reformers. And if you are going to keep justice and liberty alive, you lawyers, we teachers will try to become what we were meant to be, the formers of the character of our citizens."

"I elevated passions into duties. (p.s. That's not enough…)"

"We don’t think the world can be Woodstock … Who’d think the world could be a perpetual carnival? But we do think that the world could rediscover values that used to be automatically produced by culture but aren’t anymore because culture is subject to the commodification in our world. Everything is sold back to us, targeted to demographics. What we have to do is make progress in the quality of connection between people, not the quantity of consumption."

"Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value."

"Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community."

"The essence of the desert is that you are free to create your own world, your own visionary reality. … Both Burning Man and the Internet make it possible to regather the tribe of mankind."

"Only a few of us had been able to face directly the obscene conditions we inflicted on animals in our farm factories and modern slaughter houses; but most of us knew on some level that they entailed a suffering that was too much to “stomach.” We can appreciate now what it did to us to eat animals kept long in pain and terror. Because the mass methods employed to raise and kill animals for our tables were relatively new, we did not fully realize the deprivation and torture they entailed. Only a few of us guessed that the glandular responses of the cattle and pigs and chickens pumped adrenalin into their bodies and that we ate with their flesh the rage of the chickens, the terror of the pigs and cattle… Acting now with more respect for other beings, we find we have more respect for ourselves."

"Joanna Macy writes that until we can grieve for our planet we cannot love it—grieving is a sign of spiritual health. But it is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair."

"In 2018, on the 40th anniversary of Milk’s assassination, The Advocate spoke with his nephew, Stuart Milk, who cofounded the Harvey Milk Foundation. Stuart Milk highlighted his uncle’s courage and the ongoing relevance of his legacy. He recalled that Harvey Milk was a touchstone for his self-acceptance and authenticity, noting that his uncle’s courage was evident as he campaigned for office when it was illegal to be openly LGBTQ+ in California. In March the USNS Harvey Milk, the first U.S. Naval ship named after an out gay person, embarked on its maiden voyage. A ceremony was held in San Francisco to honor Milk, attended by local and national officials, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Rear Admiral Richard Meyer. Stuart Milk and Anne Kronenberg, Milk’s campaign manager, also spoke at the event. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi noted that the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein was one of the original sponsors of the ship. Milk’s enduring impact on LGBTQ+ rights and his pioneering role in American politics make him a seminal figure in civil rights history. His life and work have been commemorated in numerous ways, including the annual Harvey Milk Day in California, celebrated on his birthday, and the Harvey Milk Foundation, which continues his advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights globally. His story has been told in the 1982 book The Mayor of Castro Street by Randy Shilts; Rob Epstein's 1984 documentary film The Times of Harvey Milk, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary; and the 2008 biographical film Milk, starring Sean Penn, written by Dustin Lance Black and directed by Gus Van Sant. Penn won the Oscar as Best Actor, and Black won for his screenplay. An opera and several plays have also chronicled Milk's life. There are schools and other public buildings named after Milk. In 2009, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Stuart Milk accepted the medal."

"Milk’s life was cut short on November 27, 1978, when Dan White, a disgruntled former city supervisor, assassinated him and Mayor George Moscone. White had resigned from the Board of Supervisors but wanted to rejoin it, and he believed Moscone and Milk were blocking him from that. The murders shocked the nation and sparked widespread outrage and activism. Police charged White with two counts of murder and illegal firearms possession. Dianne Feinstein, then president of the Board of Supervisors, became acting mayor following the tragedy. The assassinations shocked San Francisco and the nation. Stunned friends and colleagues expressed their grief and admiration. President Jimmy Carter acknowledged Milk as “a leader of San Francisco’s gay community, who kept his promise to represent all constituents.” Thousands of San Franciscans paid their respects as Milk and Moscone lay in state at City Hall. A massive candlelight march from the Castro district to City Hall honored Milk’s legacy, with more than 25,000 people participating. Milk had received numerous death threats due to his activism. He left a recording to be played after his death in which he said, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country.” White was convicted in 1979 of manslaughter, not murder, and received a sentence of eight years in prison, which was widely considered too light. Outraged San Francisco residents lashed out in what became known as the White Night Riots in May 1979. White was released from prison in January 1984, having served only a portion of his sentence, and he died by suicide in 1985."

"Harvey Milk was a groundbreaking political figure and an activist in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Milk was born in Woodmere, on New York's Long Island, on May 22, 1930, to William and Minerva Milk. He had a brother, Robert. Both of his parents had served in the Navy. They ran a family store called Milk's Dry Goods and were active in the Jewish community on Long Island. Among other things, they helped found a synagogue. Milk went to college at what is now the State University of New York in Albany, studying math and history, and writing a column for the student newspaper, often dealing with issues of diversity, according to the Harvey Milk Foundation. After he graduated college in 1951 he joined the Navy. He went to officer candidate school, but he left the Navy in 1955 after questions about his sexual orientation began popping up. Milk went on to work as a teacher on Long Island, then became a stock analyst and later a production associate on Broadway. He worked on several high-profile shows, including Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. Milk began his activist career while protesting the Vietnam War. In the early 1970s, he moved to San Francisco and opened a camera shop on Castro Street. The camera store became a community gathering place, and Milk's political activity increased. After some gay business owners met with hostility from established merchants, he helped found the Castro Village Association and became its president. It was the first predominantly LGBTQ+ business organization in the U.S."

"Her [Carol Ruth Silver's] subsequent eleven-year career in San Francisco politics included serving on the city's Board of Supervisors, where she was an ally of the first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk. They worked together on the first antigay discrimination ordinance in the nation, sponsored the first gay marches in the city, participated in vigils for Soviet Jewry, fought for rent control and tougher environmental controls, and advocated for better services for senior citizens and people with disabilities. "He was just like me, iconoclastic. He had a wonderful sense of humor and he was always willing to do something considered outrageous by other people but which just seemed like the right thing to do.""

"Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House Speaker who represents much of San Francisco, in a statement Tuesday called the decision to rename the ship "a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country." The Harvey Milk is a John Lewis-class oiler, a group of ships that are to be named after prominent civil rights leaders and activists. CBS reported Tuesday that the Navy is also considering renaming other John Lewis-class oilers including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman. Both Marshall and Ginsburg were Supreme Court justices, and Tubman was a Black abolitionist who helped slaves escape the South via the Underground Railroad. Unlike the Milk, though, some of the ships being considered for renaming have yet to be completed. Pelosi called that possibility "a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream." "Our military is the most powerful in the world -- but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the 'warrior' ethos," she added."

"In 1977, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, making history as the first out gay elected official in California. It was his third race for the board, which is San Francisco's version of a city council. He had made a run for the California State Assembly as well. His election was a significant milestone for the LGBTQ+ movement, symbolizing the community’s growing political power and visibility. He also noted what it meant for other marginalized groups. "It's not my victory, it's yours and yours and yours," he said after winning the election. "If a gay can win, it means there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We've given them hope." Milk used his position to champion various progressive causes, including affordable housing, public transportation, and civil rights. He played a crucial role in defeating Proposition 6, a.k.a. the Briggs Initiative, a 1978 ballot measure that sought to ban LGBTQ+ people from working in California’s public schools. Milk often stressed the importance of being out. “We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions," he said in one of his speeches. "We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I’m going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it. You must come out.” “Harvey understood that the single most important political act anyone could take was simply to come out — to reveal their true nature to their friends, families and coworkers,” his fellow activist Cleve Jones told NBC News in 2018. “Harvey understood that that was important, because he understood that hatred of us was grounded in fear, and that that fear would evaporate once people could understand that in fact they had gay people in their families and in their congregations and in their neighborhoods.”"

"And to the bigots, to the John Briggs, to the Anita Bryants, to the Kevin Starrs and all their ilk... Let me remind you what America is... listen carefully. On the Statue of Liberty, it says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free...” In the Declaration of Independence it is written, “All men are created equal and they are endowed with certain inalienable rights...” And in our National Anthem it says: “Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free.” For Mr. Briggs and Mrs. Green and Mr. Starr and all the bigots out there: that’s what America is. No matter how hard you try, you cannot erase those words from the Declaration of Independence. No matter how hard you try, you cannot chip those words from off the base of the Statue of Liberty. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot sing the “Star Spangled Banner” without those words. That’s what America is. Love it or leave it."

"There is a difference between morality and murder. The fact that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that, my friends, is the true perversion! For the standards that we set, should we look to next week’s headlines? Well, I’m tired of the lies of the Anita Bryants and the John Briggs. I’m tired of their myths. I’m tired of their distortions. I’m speaking out about it."

"I don't think we have a right to take the people who raised us, who made us strong and healthy, and toss them away like a can of beer."

"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country."

"This is Harvey Milk speaking from the camera store on the evening of Friday, November 18. This is to be played only in the event of my death by assassination. I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, a gay activist, becomes a target or the potential target for somebody who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed themselves. Knowing that I could be assassinated at any moment, any time, I feel it's important that some people know my thoughts. And so the following are my thoughts, my wishes, and my desires, whatever, and I'd like to pass them on and have them played for the appropriate people."

"And the young gay people in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias and the Richmond, Minnesotas who are coming out and hear Anita Bryant in television and her story. The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us'es, the us'es will give up. And if you help elect to the central committee and other offices, more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward. It means hope to a nation that has given up, because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone."

"I have never considered myself a candidate. I have always considered myself part of a movement, part of a candidacy. I considered the movement the candidate. I think that there's a distinction between those who use the movement and those who are part of the movement. I think I was always part of the movement. I wish I had time to explain everything I did. Almost everything was done with an eye on the gay movement."

"My name is Harvey Milk—and I want to recruit you. I want to recruit you for the fight to preserve your democracy from the John Briggs and the Anita Bryants who are trying to constitutionalize bigotry. We are not going to allow that to happen. We are not going to sit back in silence as 300,000 of our gay sisters and brothers did in Nazi Germany. We are not going to allow our rights to be taken away and then march with bowed heads to the gas chambers. On this anniversary of Stonewall, I ask my gay sisters and brothers to make the commitment to fight. For themselves. For their freedom. For their country."

"The other aspect of this assassination. I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad, but I hope they will take that frustration and that madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay doctor come out, every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let that world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody would imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights."

"I ask for the movement to continue, for the movement to grow, because last week I got a phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and my election gave somebody else, one more person, hope. And after all, that's what this is all about. It's not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power — it's about giving those young people out there in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias, hope. You gotta give them hope."

"In the Examiner, Kevin Starr defames and libels gays. In the Chronicle, Charles McCabe warns us to be quiet, that talking about gay rights is counter-productive. To Mr. McCabe, I say that the day he stops talking about freedom is the day he no longer has it. The blacks [sic] did not win their rights by sitting quietly in the back of the bus. They got off!! Gay people, we will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets... we are coming out! We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions! We are coming out to tell the truth about gays! For I’m tired of the conspiracy of silence. I’m tired of listening to the Anita Bryants twist the language and the meaning of the Bible to fit their own distorted outlook. But I’m even more tired of the silence from the religious leaders of this nation who know that she is playing fast and loose with the true meaning of the Bible. I’m tired of their silence more than of her biblical gymnastics!"

"Gay people, we are painted as child molestors. I want to talk about that. I want to talk about the myth of child molestations by gays. I want to talk about the fact that in this state some 95 percent of child molestations are heterosexual and usually committed by a parent. I want to talk about the fact that all child abandonments are heterosexual. I want to talk about the fact that all abuse of children is by their heterosexual parents. I want to talk about the fact that some 98 percent of the six million rapes committed annually are heterosexual. I want to talk about the fact that one out of every three women who will be murdered in this state this year will be murdered by their husbands. I want to talk about the fact that some 30 percent of all heterosexual marriages contain domestic violence. And finally, I want to tell the John Briggs and the Anita Bryants that they talk about the myths of gays, but today I’m talking about the facts of heterosexual violence and what the hell are you going to do about that? Clean up your own house before you start telling lies about gays. Don’t distort the Bible to hide your own sins. Don’t change facts to lies. Don’t look for cheap political advantage in playing upon people’s fears! Judging by the latest polls, even the youth can tell you’re lying! Anita Bryant, John Briggs: Your unwillingness to talk about your own house, your deliberate lies and distortions, your unwillingness to face the truth, chills my blood. It reeks of madness!"

"Gay brothers and sisters, what are you going to do about it? You must come out. Come out to your parents. I know that it is hard and that it will hurt them, but think of how they will hurt you in the voting booth! Come out to your relatives. I know that it is hard and will upset them but think of how they will upset you in the voting booth. Come out to your friends. If indeed, they are your friends. Come out to your neighbors, to your co-workers, to the people who work where you eat and shop. Come out only to the people you know, and who know you. Not to anyone else. But once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions. For your sake. For their sake. For the sake of the youngsters who are being terrified by the votes coming from Dade County to Eugene. If Briggs wins, he will not stop. They never do. Like all mad people, they are forced to go on, to prove they were right."

"I call upon all minorities and especially the millions of lesbians and gay men to wake up from their dreams.. . to gather in Washington and tell Jimmy Carter and their nation: “Wake up.. wake up, America... no more racism, no more sexism, no more ageism, no more hatred…no more!” It’s up to you, Jimmy Carter... Do you want to go down in history as a person who would not listen…or do you want to go down in history as a leader, as a President?"

"Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay elected official in California. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled fellow city supervisor. White was sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter, which was later reduced to five years. Mass uprisings in the gay community, known as the White Night Riots, followed the sentencing. Milk became an icon in San Francisco and in the LGBTQ community and he continues to be honored today."

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show. Military-dot-com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy -- the official who holds the power to name Navy ships -- that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk. A defense official confirmed that the Navy was making preparations to strip the ship of its name but noted that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered to do so by Hegseth. The official also said that the timing of the announcement -- occurring during Pride month -- was intentional."

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a rare move that comes amid Pride Month and has already drawn sharp criticism from prominent political figures and activists. Military-dot-com reviewed internal documents and confirmed through defense sources that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered by Hegseth to remove the name from the John Lewis-class oiler. A memo from the Secretary of the Navy’s office outlined rollout plans for the name change, which is expected to be publicly announced on June 13 aboard the USS Constitution. The renaming is reportedly intended to “align with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture,” referencing priorities held by President Donald Trump, Hegseth, and Phelan. No new name has yet been announced for the vessel. The timing and intent of the move have generated immediate backlash. Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who represents much of San Francisco, condemned the decision, calling it “a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country.” She also criticized the broader potential renaming of other John Lewis-class ships, including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Harriet Tubman, which have yet to be completed. Marshall was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Meanwhile, Ginsburg was the second woman to become a Supreme Court justice. Tubman was a Black abolitionist who helped slaves escape the South via the Underground Railroad. “This spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the ‘warrior’ ethos,” Pelosi added."

"Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials in US history and a pioneering figure in the LGBTQ civil rights movement. A Navy veteran, Milk served during the Korean War as a diving officer aboard the USS Kittiwake and left the service in 1955 with a "less than honorable" discharge after being questioned about his sexual orientation. In 1977, Milk won a seat on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, where he championed anti-discrimination legislation. His life was cut short in 1978 when he was assassinated while in office. Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009."

""Can we drill your brains?"(responding to attendants who interrupted her speech by chanting "Drill here! Drill now!")"

"Your recent meetings with Chinese dissidents at the White House are to be commended. However, your participation at the opening ceremony of the Olympics will send a signal to the Chinese people and the international community that could be misperceived as your approval, and that of the American people, for the draconian policies of the Chinese government. Therefore, it is essential that you unambiguously speak out for human rights and meet with the families of jailed prisoners of conscience while you are in Beijing. (In a letter to President Bush prior to his 2008 trip to Beijing's Summer Olympic Games"

"Let me just say we're going to pass the bill this week"

"By making college more affordable for all and more accessible for minority students, the first new higher education authorizing legislation in a decade will help strengthen our nation and America's middle class, and spur a new age of innovation and ingenuity in our country."

"Members of Congress I have the high privilege and distinct honour of presenting to you, his excellency Bertie Ahern (/ei/hern), the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister of Ireland."

"I'm never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes."

"Discussions continue with the House, Senate and White House to reach a bicameral framework agreement to Build Back Better through a reconciliation bill."

"I say to my colleagues never confine your best work, your hopes, your dreams, the aspiration of the American people to what will be signed by George W. Bush because that is too limiting a factor."