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7 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes on Peace

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes on Peace

One of the most influential faces of the American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr, is someone most, if not all, Americans know and look to for inspiration and motivation in our current efforts in activism. His nonviolent protests and peaceful yet insistent demeanor were harbingers for changes the country so desperately needed. His efforts can serve as a foundation upon which present-day efforts to fight for a change of the same magnitude are built. Keep reading to revive worn spirits and exemplify what it means to maintain optimism in times of strife.

7 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes on Peace

  1. “We must come to see that at the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience,” – delivered on March 25, 1965, in Montgomery, AL.
  2. “It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” – Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, March 31, 1968.
  3. “Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love,”- during his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance address on December 10, 1964, in Oslo, Norway.
  4. “Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” – Where Do We Go From Here? Annual Report delivered at the 11th Convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on August 19, 1967, in Atlanta, GA.
  5. “Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not an emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another.” – 1957
  6. “We must find new ways to speak for peace… for justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.” – Conscience and the Vietnam War, The Trumpet of Conscience, 1968
  7. “World peace through nonviolent means is neither absurd nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. Thus we must begin anew… Those of us who believe in this method can be voices of reason, sanity, and understanding amid the voices of violence, hatred and emotion. We can very well set a mood of peace out of which a system of peace can be built.” – Dreams of Brighter Tomorrows in Ebony Magazine, March 1965.

– Jessica Ball
Photo: Wikimedia

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10 Quotes from Nelson Mandela

quotes from nelson mandela
This month the international community celebrated Nelson Mandela International Day, the first time the day has been celebrated since the former South African President’s death.

Nelson Mandela Day, celebrated on July 18, the day of the former South African President’s birthday, was approved in 2009 by the United Nations. The day was created to inspire others to carry on the Nobel Peace Prize recipient’s legacy and to honor the beloved leader himself. On July 18, people around the world are encouraged to offer 67 minutes of their day to those less fortunate. After dedicating 67 years of his own life to working for social justice, Mandela passed away in his home in 2013 at the age of 95.

This year, a foundation spokeswoman from the Nelson Mandela Foundation estimated that 126 countries participated in Mandela Day, as over 1,200 positive deeds were registered on the foundation’s website.

“We have been heartened by the number of sustainable projects still thriving. At the same time it has been inspiring to see the range of innovative new projects to emerge,” said spokeswomen Danielle Melville.

Below are a collection of 10 quotes from Nelson Mandela himself, ranging from his time as prisoner 4664 on Robben Island to the occasion of his many accomplishments and rewards:

1. “There will always be good men on earth, in all countries, and even here at home.” -From a letter to his former wife Winnie Mandela, written in Robben Island, 1970

2. “These countless human beings, both inside and outside our country, had the nobility of spirit to stand in the path of tyranny and injustice, without seeking selfish gain. They recognized that an injury to one is an injury to all and therefore acted together in defense of justice and a common human decency. Because of their courage and persistence for many years, we can, today, even set the dates when all humanity will join together to celebrate one of the outstanding human victories of our century.” -From his Acceptance Speech at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, Norway, 1993

3. “We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign.” -From his Inauguration as President of South Africa, South Africa, 1994

4. “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. I felt fear myself more times than I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” -From his book, Long Walk to Freedom, 1994

5. “If I were to be granted one wish on this occasion, it would be that all South Africans should rededicate ourselves to truing this into the land of our dreams; a place that is free of hatred and discrimination; a place from which hunger and homelessness have been banished; a safe place for our children to grow into our future leaders.” -From his 80th Birthday Celebration, South Africa, 1998

6. “My inspiration are men and women who have emerged throughout the globe, and who have chosen the world as the theatre of their operations and who fight socio-economic conditions which do not help towards the advancement of humanity wherever that occurs. Men and women who fight the suppression of the human voice, who fight disease, illiteracy, ignorance, poverty and hunger. Some are known, others are not. Those are the people who have inspired me.” -From a speech at London School of Economics, England, 2000

7. “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” -From Walter Sisulu’s 90 Birthday Celebration, South Africa, 2002

8. “One of the most important lessons I learned in my life of struggle for freedom and peace is that in any conflict there comes a point when neither side can claim to be right and the other wrong, no matter how much that might have been the case at the start of the conflict.” -From a Video Message for the Signing of the Geneva Accord, 2003

9. “As I am former prisoner number 46664, there is a special place in my heart for all those that are denied access to their basic human rights. We urge countries to make the policy changes that are necessary to protect the human rights of those who suffer from unfair discrimination.” -From the Closing Ceremony of the XV International AIDS Conference, Thailand, 2004

10. “We are in some ways reminded today of the excitement and enthusiasm I our own country at the time of our transition to democracy. People, not only in our country, but around the world, were inspired to believe the through common human effort, injustice can be overcome and that together a better life for all can be achieved.” -From a letter to President Barack Obama on the occasion of his Inauguration, 2009

– Blythe Riggan

Sources: Citizen, Mandeladay.com, All Africa, NelsonMandela.org, New York Times, USA Today, Nelson Mandela by Himself
Photo: Telegraph

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10 Quotes about Life

Quotes about life
Presented here are 10 quotes about life and its values:

1. “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
~Mitch Albom

2. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws will be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings … If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
~Henry David Thoreau

3. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
~Aristotle

4. “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”
~Ann Landers

5. “In the end, no thought is unthinkable, no problem unshrinkable, no two strangers unlinkable.”
~Robert Brault

6. “With patience you can even cook a stone.”
~Anonymous

7. “You can close your eyes to things you don’t want to see, but you can’t close your heart to the things you don’t want to feel.”
~Anonymous

8. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”
~Anonymous

9. “I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.”
~George Bernard Shaw

10. “The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As members of this society, we are challenged daily to remember inspirations like these and to value and respect the existence of every human life.

– Ashley Riley

Sources: motivationgrid 1, Quote Garden, Thinkexist, Brainy Quote 1, Brainy Quote 2, iz quotes, Flickr, Brainy Quote 3, Brainy Quote 4
Photo: Quantum Life Skills

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Stillmotion: Movies with Meaning

Stillmotion
In 2013, nine-year-old California native Vivienne Harr discovered that there are 29.8 million people in slavery today, many of them children. Harr was determined to do something, and quickly started her own lemonade stand with the slogan, “Make a Stand Lemonade.” Harr originally had the goal of freeing 500 enslaved children, but has since touched countless lives and continues to raise money today through her mission.

Pretty endearing story, right? A group of upcoming and passionate filmmakers thought so, too. In February 2014, Stillmotion Productions released their first feature-length, independent documentary, #standwithme, a film telling Harr’s story and winning the hearts of viewers everywhere.

Since the premiere of #standwithme, Stillmotion has gone on to produce their second film, Old Skool Cafe, which tells the story of a San Francisco supper club run by troubled youth. The Old Skool Café gives youth who were never believed in the chance to serve others in meaningful ways. The supper club is equipped with live entertainment, gourmet meals and quality service by youth who once resorted to robbery, drug dealing and gangs for a sense of belonging and direction.

Founder Teresa Goines spent years as a corrections officer, witnessing the “revolving door” of youth turning in the wrong direction without the proper resources. Today, Goines runs the supper club but offers any position, business- or service-related, to the youth, standing by as their mentor and apprentice.

All she wants is for them to know that “we see the gold in [them] and we want other people to see the gold in [them],” Goines shared in her Old Skool Café interview for the Stillmotion team.

It’s inspiring stories like these that capture the hearts and attention of Stillmotion members. “We’re a small collection of curious, loud, trouble-making souls who believe that powerful stories can change the world,” the Stillmotion team shares on their website.

In response to such amazing stories, all I want to do is share them with the world. Although I have tried, rallying large quantities of people around my small, unimpressive TV to watch these documentaries with me, however, has been largely unsuccessful.

That is where Tugg comes in. Working in collaboration with filmmakers like Stillmotion, Tugg offers a resource for individuals interested in having an independent film played at one of their local theaters. Once contacted, Tugg sets up the entire event, an event page, promotional tools and plenty of guidance along the way. In addition, Tugg allows the host to choose a cause of their choice for a portion of ticket sale proceeds to go toward.

Thanks to Tugg, I will be hosting a showing of #standwithme at a local theater. Through Tugg support, I have been able to sell 93 tickets for the film and hope to host many events in the future.

– Heather Klosterman

Sources: #standwithme, Stillmotion, Tugg 1, Tugg 2
Photo: NBC Bay Area

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Spread Some Love

rose
From the creator of the organizations “Feed Just One” and “Unlock Hope” comes the latest movement, “Spread Some Love.”

The intent of this new project is to “make a positive difference in the world through messages on their products as well as serving as a fundraising tool for people and groups that are doing amazing things to help others.”
Rather than fighting poverty strictly through providing food and shelter, “Spread Some Love” has made it clear poverty goes well beyond materialistic measures. “Being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty,” as is quoted from Mother Theresa on Spread Some Love’s website.

In today’s society, it is easy to become caught in the whirlwind of social stigmas and status. “Spread Some Love” takes perspective back to the basics with their interesting approach. This organization encourages others to make a difference in the personal life of those around them.

Instead of allowing someone to go on feeling as if they are alone, or growing cold to the outside world, “Spread Some Love” demonstrates how even the smallest gesture can turn around someone’s entire day.

In their efforts to create positivity among society, the organization sells shirts that spread uplifting messages to inspire those who see it. Included with every order that is purchased are Post-It Notes so the consumer can leave impacting messages for those around them.

Aside from clothing, “Spread Some Love” also sells jewelry. This jewelry is handcrafted by women in India. This helps to provide these women with a “sense of pride and purpose,” as they spread the message of love.

The jewelry is Fair Trade certified, giving small farmers, artisans, and workers around the globe an opportunity to benefit from globalization. This also gives these individuals the chance to overcome poverty and “improve their overall standard of living.”

For each order that they receive, the organization donates one mosquito bed net per purchase to Think Humanity. These nets are then distributed in Uganda, and the recipients are then educated on the proper use for the nets.

Every 30 seconds a child under the age of five dies from malaria. Considering that over 90 percent of malaria related deaths take place in sub-Saharan Africa, these nets have made tremendous strides in protecting individuals against the disease.

For October’s sales, “Spread Some Love” donated $771.06 to Think Humanity. In November, they were able to make $1,149.25 in donations to their charity partners from their sales.

Also on their website, individuals can publish their own submissions to display how they are actively spreading the love on their own. The category is called “Selfless Selfies,” intending to put the emphasis on the act being done, or the individual receiving help.

No one may ever realize the impact they could have on someone’s life, and this organization capitalizes on that in a positive way. Following the words of Mother Theresa, Spread Some Love emphatically quotes her throughout their website to show the influence of distributing kindness and joy.

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”

– Samaria Garrett 

Sources: Spread Some Love, Think Humanity
Photo: Wallpaper Slot