DeRay Mckesson Quotes

DeRay Mckesson

Profession : Activist

Birth : July 9, 1985

It's important to acknowledge the danger when we provide an academic venue for racism. It's interesting to hear people push the, quote, 'free speech' narrative in this way. They deny the speech of the people who disagree.

DeRay Mckesson

If City Hall started projecting swastikas, no one would say 'You know what? Free speech.' People would say that is wrong.

DeRay Mckesson

I grew up in a world of Officer Friendly. It was just the image I had.

DeRay Mckesson

People in power make the path to power. It means that we will always get the same system, and it's one that is not necessarily in the interest of people's lives.

DeRay Mckesson

When I reflect on the Colbert interview, it moved so quickly that what we didn't do was define white privilege, and I wish we had done that. White privilege is the benefit resulting from white being seen as the standard, regardless of gender and income.

DeRay Mckesson

There are people who have demonstrated their willingness to challenge systems and structures, and then when it comes to elections, some of those same people - I don't know where their fight went. What's interesting to me is to see people lose the revolution when it comes to elections.

DeRay Mckesson

For our kids to go to school, they must be alive, and for adults to work, they must not be in jail.

DeRay Mckesson

Music helps shape the way people think about the world and act in the world.

DeRay Mckesson

I'm a black, gay man, and I should be able to live in a world where I'm able to live in the complexity of my identity in a way that is safe and secure, like everyone else.

DeRay Mckesson

The arts scene in Baltimore is really rich and very vibrant. It's one of the untold stories of the city.

DeRay Mckesson

If Trump is president, I think that his administration will do real structural damage that will take years or decades for us to undo.

DeRay Mckesson

The first time I was ever impressed with Patagonia as a brand was when they released the 'Don't Buy This Jacket' campaign. That campaign highlighted their understanding of their role in a larger environmental justice space.

DeRay Mckesson

Politics is compromise, by its very nature. But we never compromise on our values and beliefs.

DeRay Mckesson

When Trump says, 'Make America great again,' he is referencing an era when people were singled out and harmed because of their race and religious beliefs, and when violent enforcement of Jim Crow masqueraded as the will of the people.

DeRay Mckesson

Trump wants to take us back to a time when people like him could abuse others with little to no consequence, when people like him could exploit the labor of others to build vast amounts of wealth, when people like him could create public policy that specifically benefited them while suppressing the rights and social mobility of others.

DeRay Mckesson

Black people have always been more than our pain. The joy is so much a part of how we have survived and thrived.

DeRay Mckesson

A cacophony of whispers is also noise. There are many ways to be heard, and there are many ways to be visible. There are many ways to be seen.

DeRay Mckesson

What we know to be true is that comfort isn't always freedom. People confuse the two.

DeRay Mckesson

I think Twitter is an incredible platform. I want to see it succeed.

DeRay Mckesson