The photographs were never about me. They were always about the people who were laying their lives on the line for basic civil rights. I look back and I can't believe there was ever a time in this country when ANY citizen could not vote. The times were appalling.
quote by Charles Moore
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
Every citizen of this country should be guaranteed that their vote matters, that their vote is counted, and that in the voting booth, their vote has a much weight as that of any CEO, any member of Congress, or any President.
quote by Barbara Boxer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Basic Rights (Of All People)
can we not learn
from our brothers and sisters
in Egypt....
how hard it is to take
freedom back once they take hold?
can we not see the value,
the right to vote and be counted,
the right to speak and be heard,
even at the cost of lives?
can we not see
that this battle is worldwide?
to restore freedom and dignity
to the human race!
the basic rights of all people
to work, to eat, and have shelter....
to breathe, and be human,
are at stake!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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In a way the CID man was pretty lucky, because outside the hospital the war was still going on. Men went mad and were rewarded with medals. All over the world, boys on every side of the bomb line were laying down their lives for what they had been told was their country, and no one seemed to mind, least of all the boys who were laying down their young lives.
quote by Joseph Heller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Racism Poem - Where Racism matters
i live in a country
multi racial in nature
where certain communities
enjoy special rights
the politicians keep asking
why there is racial polarisation
well, if i have special rights
i will make sure i really
get the best deal of it all
i will not be a stupid fool
or even modest
no two way about it
that includes telling others
to be aware that they do
not have special rights
drawing the line doubly clear
just in case they
infringe on these rights
rights to everything special
housing, education,
medication, career advances
etc, etc, etc
and of course
i would make
every citizen aware
they are living in a society
where racism matters
because it is a matter
of life and death
for those with special rights
and of course for those
without the rights to
keep decently quiet about it
or else these special rights
could mean the rights
to take away things
dearest to them
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Back Door Uncle Sam
Back Door Uncle Sam
Santorum, Perry, Bachmann, Mitt...
Who could ever give a shit
if all these store-bought
Candidates were sold
and hauled away in crates.
With blow of Cain
and 'I' of Newt
We've sealed our country's disrepute...
The time to vote is fast approaching
But don't you throw a fit
The GOP and the SOB's
Don't have the back door chip.
Obama's got the very top
The man with the second Reg.
So when they count the final vote
They'll take the final pledge.
Now please don't cry citizen Kane
Why lament the death of democracy
It was all a ruse by the men in suits
Next year we become a theocracy.
poem by Lynne FincherSpringarden
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Dont You Think It's Time?
children have rights,
women have rights.
lovers have rights.
people of all religions,
and even atheists have rights.
people of all colors,
speaking every language have rights.
trees and rivers have rights.
cats and dogs have rights.
cattle have rights,
homeless people have rights.
prisoners have rights.
democrats and republicans have rights,
even socialists have rights.
the jobless have rights,
old people have rights...
and the hungry have
the right to be fed!
damnit! dont you think it's time?
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Race Comes Down To Race
This Country prides itself on racial diversity
After many hard fought years for civil rights
Truth is there is still prejudice and antipathy
Race comes down to race for biased plebiscite
(Vote for the best man, not the color his skin)
ROTMS
poem by Ray Lucero
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Easier to Digest
Civil unrest
Civil war
Civil chaos
Or...
My personal favorite,
Civil disobedience!
Which of these has more flavor...
And yet caffeine free?
More taste,
And yet less filling?
'I vote we go with civil unrest!
It's easier to digest...
And maintains that robust appeal.'
Now we are getting somewhere!
And you George...
What would you like?
~Just pass me the vodka!
No rocks! ~
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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I maintain that every civil rights bill in this country was passed for white people, not for black people.
quote by Stokely Carmichael
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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America In Turmoil
this country has gotten out of hand-its time for americans to take
a stand.-we let petroleum prices rule our lives.
and change the way we live.-now its time for the politicians to give.
the same way that the north and south joined forces
to become a nation.
it is time for democrats and republicans to become one.
and help the people get out from under the gun.
unity is what we need right now-but its nowheres to be found.
president bush took the oath-and made this country
his escape goat.
he took ameica to a war that was in civil strife
and had americans lose their lives.
now! he is pulling out the large profitering companies
from a hole that they created.
and used the publics money for their own personal greed.
and then says they're in need.
get rid of the ones who created this mess-let obama take the test.
if this country is in poverty-it is time to be set free.
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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When times are bad
When times are bad
and I am with my hands in my hair
and black foreigners from all over Africa
overnight becomes citizens
and have more rights as a citizen than me
and affirmative action
puts her claws into my life
then I wonder about justice
and when merit and experience
will ever again apply
where my ancestors Joost Strydom
from Liefenshoek in the Netherlands
as a merchant seaman of the VOC
in 1678 came to Cape Town,
married his pretty well know wife
Maryna Ras who with a horse
could alone ride days long to Cape Town
with whom noblemen tried to have relationships,
where the indigenous zulu-xhosa-pondo-swazi people
are originating from a group
that during the same time
immigrated far away out of the north
from eMbo at the big lakes in central Africa
under the leadership of Nguni and later Dlamini
and then I wonder how
this country rather belongs to them
and they have to have work opportunities before me
and if you now say anything
about the new migration out of the whole of Africa
for which the country’s borders are now wide open
(in such a way that South Africans
must now get visas for Great Britain)
you are seen as xenophobic
and then there are citizens from right over Africa
who become South Africans overnight
attaining more rights than you
who forced by law
get secure job opportunities
and do people from Mozambique murder
Eugene Terreblance,
drug dealers from Nigeria
are caught by the local police
while against your will
you were forced into an army, into a war
still faithfully pay your taxes
when and where you have a job
and the current government
tries to stay in power
while Aids devours its voter numbers
and you as a white man
are despised by the current regime,
are treaded into the ground
while the country are falling to pieces
and then you pray
to Him (the God of the universe) who controls everything
to drastically intervene
rather than rousing people
for a civil war.
[Reference: VOC Verenigde Oost Indiëse companje.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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When I wrote the song, The Way It Is, I wanted to move people to take a stand on civil rights in this country.
quote by Bruce Hornsby
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I did become American citizen in order to vote. I lived in this country for a very long time and I finally reached the point where I thought, I'm often sticking my neck out on various issues as all human beings have a right to do.
quote by Lynn Redgrave
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But my point is these Civil War songs were gruesome. The hatred that's so bad in this country today, and for the past 10 or 15 years, bad as it is, is nothing compared to the kind of things people would write down and sing back in the Civil War.
quote by T-Bone Burnett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Am A Civil Servant
I am a civil servant
That's not my real name
I am a baptised civil servant
This name puts bread on my table
I am a civil servant
Codified to obey a set of rules
Straight-jacketed to obey my masters
For a monthly stipend as a reward
I am a civil servant
Ordained to oil the engine of politicians
Who lords their policies on me
To serve like a chef at a banquet
I am a civil servant
My sobriquet is a bureaucrat
I am constantly accused of red-tapism
'Cos of my insistence on procedures
I am a civil servant indeed
My masters blame me for any misdemeanor
My people accuses me of collusion
I am just a scape goat at both ends
I am a civil servant par excellence
I am just a loyal and dutiful citizen
No nation can survive without me
Yet I am hardly appreciated
I am seen as rodent in a farmland
I am always available to serve my country
I am ready to serve the political divides
I am an uunbiased umpire
Soldier go, soldier come
The barrack is immovable
I am a loyal civil servant
Used like fresh rain water in the morning
Thrown away as dirty water at night
Condemned to paltry periodical pension
To survive for the rest of my life
That's my reward for being a loyal servant
poem by Babatunde Aremu
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If Willie Nelson had been Rosa Parks, there never would have been a civil rights movement in this country, because he refuses to leave the back of the bus.
quote by Kinky Friedman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Vote For Me
Vote for me, vote for me
I want the nomination for the presidency
Vote for me, vote for me
If I am elected, this is how it will be
Ill cut your tax in half
Ill make the russians laugh
Ill feed the hungry people everywhere
Ill bring the railroads back
New trains and new track
From waikiki to old deleware
Vote for me, vote for me
I want the nomination for the presidency
Vote for me, vote for me
If I am elected, this is how it will be
Ill give detroit one year
New cars that run on beer
Or anything except gasoline
Im looking to the sun
More power for everyone
And the cleanest sky that youve ever seen
Im not going to kid you, theres a lot to do
Little can I promise, its really up to you
But if we all work together
And I think we can
And if you want some new ideas
Then Im your man
Vote for me, vote for me
I want the nomination for the presidency
Vote for me, vote for me
If I am elected, this is how it will be
Ill work for global peace
And the sweet release
Of the love and human kindness in us all
I would give all Ive got
You just give me a shot
Somehow, I know that I can win the fall
song performed by by Chicago
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The American system of democracy is founded on the concept that every citizen has the right to vote, to know that their vote is counted, and that the vote is counted accurately.
quote by Barbara Mikulski
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I do not believe that defending traditional marriage between one man and one woman excludes anybody or usurps anybody's civil rights and denies anybody their civil rights.
quote by Alan Autry
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There is no contradiction between effective law enforcement and respect for civil and human rights. Dr. King did not stir us to move for our civil rights to have them taken away in these kinds of fashions.
quote by Dorothy Height
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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