I have a whole lot of fun in trying to serve others and just keeping it funky, trying to keep it real, trying to ensure that we are able to be ourselves and get beyond these deodorized discourses and deodorized spaces that put on masks.
To be human you must bear witness to justice.
I believe that all of us have gangster proclivities and greedy orientations that need accountability. That’s why democracies are necessary. We have to have institutions to try to curtail the use of arbitrary power so that our greedy orientations and gangster-like proclivities don’t get out of hand.
This is what it is for Asians to be part of – support affirmative action, even though it may be against their interest, but they feel it’s a matter of justice.
Sometime you just need to be silent, have a drink and crack a smile or somethin’, because the human condition, in general, is just overwhelming in so many ways.
The courage to be is the most difficult thing for any human being.
Rage is fine as long as it doesn’t deteriorate into bitterness.
Does he have a double standard for black critics as opposed to white critics?
Optimism is evidence-based.
Our politicians have sacrificed their principles on the altar of special interests; our corporate leaders have sacrificed their integrity on the altar of profits; and our media watchdogs have sacrificed the voice of dissent on the altar of audience competition.
Interrogate yours hidden assumptions.
It’s fashionable to be indifferent to other people’s suffering.
For most of the history of the American empire, government has been a tool for preserving and furthering the power and might of white male corporate elites...
When you place a high value on truth, you have to think for yourself.
I think anytime we talk about transforming in capitalist society, we are talking about a process not a particular event so you can’t talk about a socialist revolution.
Context shapes who you are.
We are intent on building a movement. The next step is grassroots town meetings. We must keep alive the dialogue around the covenants.
John Coltrane was an addict; Billie Holiday was an addict; Eugene O’Neill was an addict. What would America be without addicts and post-addicts who make such grand contributions to our society?
We want to bear witness today that we know the relation between corporate greed and what goes on too often in the Supreme Court decisions.
This book is the best treatment of the best American Marxist philosopher-and the best philosopher to emerge from American slums. Young Sidney Hook is essential reading for anyone interested in democratic theory and practice in America.