By Fr. Ted Wiesner
“…In a similar way we enter into solidarity with the poor when distinction between we and they no longer applies. The distinction breaks down and we are the poor, one among them.
Quotes
We Live on Common Ground
By Sara Ahmed
“Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground.”
Sara Ahmed is a British-Australian writer and feminist scholar.
Fight Racism with Solidarity
By Fred Hampton
“We’ve got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put fire out best with water. We say you don’t fight racism with racism. We’re gonna fight racism with solidarity.”
Fred Hampton was deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party and founder of the multicultural Rainbow Coalition in Chicago. He was assassinated in 1969.
Strong People
By Ella Baker
“You didn’t see me on television, you didn’t see news stories about me. The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don’t need strong leaders.”
Ella Baker was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist.
Go with an Inquiring Mind
By Che Guevara
“We should not go to the people and say, ‘Here we are. We come to give you the charity of our presence, to teach you our science, to show you your errors, your lack of culture, your ignorance of elementary things.’ We should go instead with an inquiring mind and a humble spirit to learn at that great source of wisdom that is the people.”
Che Guevara was a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution and guerrilla leader in South America.
Stranger Who Tells Our Stories
By Ishmael Beah
“The stranger who tells our stories when we cannot speak not only awakens our spirits and hearts but also shows our humanity—which others want to forget—and in doing so, becomes family.”
Ishmael Beah is a Sierra Leonean author and human rights activist who rose to fame with A Long Way Gone, his acclaimed memoir.
Approaching Another
By John V. Taylor
“Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion is to take off our shoes, for the place we are approaching is holy; else we find ourselves treading on someone’s dream. More serious still, we may forget that God was already there before our arrival.”
John V. Taylor was an English bishop and theologian.
Unique Manifestations
By Wade Davis
“The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you. They are unique manifestations of the human spirit.”
Wade Davis is a Canadian cultural anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author, and photographer. He is an advocate for the world’s indigenous cultures.
Our Light
By Donald B. Kraybill
“We believe in letting our light shine, but not shining it in the eyes of other people.”
Donald B. Kraybill is an American author, lecturer, and educator on Anabaptist faiths and culture. This quote is from his book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Liberations Bound Up
By Lilla Watson
“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time… But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
Lilla Watson is a Murri (Indigenous Australian) visual artist, activist, and academic.