“If there is no friendship with them [the poor] and no sharing of the life of the poor, then there is no authentic commitment to liberation, because love exists only among equals.” -Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation
Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, OP is a Peruvian philosopher, Catholic theologian, and Dominican priest, regarded as one of the founders of Latin American liberation theology.
“O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for God can best protect both. Follow not your personal inclination, lest you not be just, and if you distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily God is well-acquainted with all that you do.” -Qu’ran 4:135 (Islamic sacred text)
“For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me; sick and you visited me; in prison and you came to see me. . . . I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” -Matthew 25:35-40 (Christian scripture)
“In this world, hate never dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible.” -Dhammapada 1:5 (Collected sayings of the Buddha/Buddhist Scripture)
“Love the whole world as if it were yourself; then you will truly care for all things.” -Tao-te-ching 13:4 (Classical Chinese text)
“…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.
We have, it is true, differing talents, life experiences, but the fundamental point is that we stand together as one, of one mind and heart in the midst of political, economic, and social structures that oppress. We approach the world with the same outlook. We approach it aware of our different backgrounds and roles, aware of our sinfulness, limitations, and weaknesses, but with mutual love and common cause.
The experience of God in this Way of Solidarity is the experience of the justice of God…We have freed ourselves from our superiority, our illusions, our discouragement and disillusionment, our guilt, and our romantic notions of the poor…It does not mean…that we pass beyond our struggles, sufferings, or are protected from misunderstandings and even persecution. But it does mean that we experience God saying to us: Blessed are you poor…for you shall see God.
…Like the enlightened one of Buddhism, we have returned to the market place. We experience a solidarity with the poor and with God. We may experience this only occasionally as a unity and peace at the core of our being, or we may be aware of this oneness more or less habitually. It is what directs our lives and actions, gives us energy, and expresses itself in an inner peace that is the consequence of a reconciliation within ourselves with the poor and with the God of the poor…Solidarity becomes the motive force of how we view the world and live within it, and of how we experience God.”
Ted Wiesner
“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
Sara Ahmed is a British-Australian writer and feminist scholar.
“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
Fred Hampton was deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party and founder of the multicultural Rainbow Coalition in Chicago. He was assassinated in 1969.
“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
Ella Baker was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist.
“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
Che Guevara was a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution and guerrilla leader in South America.