"In a time when few women held public leadership roles, she distinguished herself as a passionate leader and pioneer, effective consensus-builder and powerful agent of change."

"Since I joined the County Board in 1973, Arlington has become a community of rich diversity, expanding opportunities and ever more complex governmental challenges. I know we can meet whatever lies ahead due to the pride that Arlingtonians show for their community and their willingness to help make it better. I am privileged to have been a part of this process."

"Unita Blackwell epitomizes the power of community-based efforts and of Black women in the Civil Rights Movement to enact change at the local and regional level."

"There's no job too big to benefit from a small town person's perspective, I discovered, just as there's no town too small for thinking big."

"Everything can be turned into an opportunity and a learning moment so I try not to dwell on things. I think the things that are hardest are finding the resources to meet the big vision. When you’re in this work, trying to have transformative impact, that’s a huge vision and the money comes in small amounts. The combination of it always hanging on your neck, that you have to go raise more money and the reality that it’s going to small amounts is enough to discourage anybody but I think all of us who are in the business have made the decision to just put that aside as something we’re not going to let discourage us."

"By giving people a clear vision of what can be. People want to be able to be helpful, but they don’t have a clear vision of how to be helpful. People need a north star and they need to know that there’s a way to be able to get there."

"When the bossman says you go to the fields, everybody went to the fields; schools closed down."

"The more I heard about white people being so against it. the more I started thinking there must be something in this voting."

"People need to understand the importance of race. The racial issues predate the founding of the nation. Slavery predates the founding of the nation. We need to understand it has been a scar on the nation whether you are black or white or Latino. The refusal of this nation to come to grips with the role of race in policy making, in economic strategy, is holding this nation back and will take it down. You can’t think about going into the world of policy without understanding that legacy and the impacts of that legacy and how it impacts everybody and everything. Until you have the education, you will not be effective."

"…what happened outside the courthouse that day was the turning point in my life."

"My personal aspirations are no different than anyone else’s, we want our families to be healthy and happy and fulfilling. We want our neighborhoods to be neighbourly and have a sense of community. We want to live in peace. Those are my personal aspirations."

"My social change aspirations mirror that. I want that for myself and I want that for everybody. I think we need to create a world in which that can happen. One that is peaceful. One that values all human life where there is no hierarchy of human value. All human life is scared. Black lives matter. All lives matter. But all lives will never matter until black lives matter. I want to have a society in which people get that and our institutions are aligned with our aspirations."

"I’m proof that things can change."

"I am saddened by the passing of Unita Blackwell. She dedicated her life to fighting for civil rights in Mississippi. We are forever grateful for her work and sacrifice."

"We honor her as an ancestor for reminding us of the power to change the circumstances we were born into."

"Although not as well-known as other famous American women, Dr. Blanton left a formidable legacy by improving the plight of women and children. Tenacious, persistent, and determined are words that aptly describe her."

"Suffragist, educator, visionary, public official, innovator, and groundbreaker."

"She believed that the power of women working together could promote positive change."

"Her victory made national headlines; even Time magazine did an article about her victory."

"Blair was a local pioneer who broke new ground for women and people with disabilities in Texas. She was a fighter who did not back down and was willing to stand for causes she felt were important. Blair was ahead of her time."

"She has the understanding of working man’s problems through earning her own living despite handicap of blindness."

"Everything that helps to wear away age-old prejudices contributes towards the advancement of women and of humanity."

"My opponent has never been quoted on a platform; his campaign is solely based on the fact he has been in public office for forty years."

"Whoever is misinterpreting my remarks must be more interested in my opponent than in organized labor."

"We cannot rob our institutions of learning of their ability to get facts. The truth is our greatest weapon against communism."

"I resent that some people do not want to listen to the truth. I will run on my record . . . I have never waited to see how a vote was going to go and then vote in the house with the crowd."

"Her leadership was also marked by a commitment to uplifting women and children, often neglected in the larger political landscape."

"She was a steadfast advocate for the rights of the disenfranchised and worked to create a more inclusive and just community."

"Blackwell’s work and legacy went beyond her local community. She became a vocal advocate for the inclusion of women and people of color in the broader political system, encouraging others to take leadership roles and fight for change."

"I do not feel that I am going to set the world on fire, but I feel that there is a place for some practical work to be done."

"My opponents have not committed themselves to any specific platform – my position has (been) entirely clear."

"Our hearts are heavy today after hearing the news that former Mayersville Mayor Unita Blackwell has passed. We are a better state for her determination to make Mississippi a more just place. She remains a role model for generations of women who serve in city halls, county courthouses and the Mississippi Capitol. Godspeed, Mayor Blackwell. We salute you."

"Lucille Berrien is definitely one of Milwaukee’s unsung heros. She gives of herself tirelessly to the downtrodden, the voiceless and the hopeless. It is such a pleasure to have her serve on the board of directors at Village of Hope."

"I feel like there is a really long way to go but it’s profoundly meaningful for a homegrown, grassroots activist like Lucille Berrien to have this place in the city."

"I’m never afraid to walk the streets of Milwaukee."

"On a professional level, my law firm also enacts her philosophy. If we make Lucille proud, I know we’re doing our job and making good on our mission statement."

"I was 24 years old when I became a widow, and I think about all those mothers who have husbands in Iraq. It will be harder for them than it was for me. I always said that if anything happened to my husband I would take the kids up North. I thought they would have a higher quality education."

"I supported them. I thought what they were doing was correct."

"They need to know why they are where they are. And they don’t. It’s the young people that make the world go ‘round."

"It was a lot of hard work, And I knew I wasn’t going to win. There are two kinds of power: money power and people power. If you don’t have the money, you can still win with people."

"I want change for my grandchildren."

"I try to enact Lucille’s philosophy – her belief that taking care of others is an essential part of being human and that we can best take care of others when we have a decent public support system to do so. Her life experience is deep and that depth is incredibly informative and beautiful."

"Things are going so backwards in Milwaukee, makes you wish for those days to come back."

"She put the voice in my head that says, You have a responsibility to take care of people less fortunate than you are."

"Gerta Bendl was a force of nature."

"What has made this nation great? Not its heroes, but its households."

"What's a Cinderella 10? A woman who sucks and fucks till midnight and then turns into a pizza and a six-pack."

"Yes, gentleman, but there are DUNGEONS in some of those castles!"

"And evermore the Deep has worshipped God; And Bards and Prophets tune their mystic lyres While listening to the music of the floods."

"Oh! wondrous power, how little understood, Entrusted to the Mother's mind alone To fashion genius, form the soul for good, Inspire a West, or train a Washington!"