25 quotes
The first lesson a revolutionary must learn is that he is a doomed man. Unless he understands this, he does not grasp the essential meaning of his life.
Revolutionary Suicide (1973)
I have no doubt that the revolution will triumph. The people of the world will prevail, seize power, seize the means of production, wipe out racism, capitalism.
Revolutionary Suicide (1973)
Rewriting unjust laws is a basic human right and fundamental obligation.
My fear was not of death itself, but a death without meaning. I wanted my death to be something the people could relate to, a basis for further mobilization of the community.
Revolutionary Suicide (1973)
An unarmed people are slaves or are subject to slavery at any given moment.
To us power is, first of all, the ability to define phenomena, and secondly the ability to make these phenomena act in a desired manner.
You can kill my body, but you can't kill my soul. My soul will live forever!
The ruling clique approaches its task with a "what to think" program; the vanguard elements have much more difficult job of promoting "how to think."
Blood in My Eye (1971)
The people will win a new world. Yet when I think of individuals in the revolution, I cannot predict their survival. Revolutionaries must accept this fact.
Revolutionary Suicide (1973)
To die for the racists is lighter than a feather, but to die for the people is heavier than any mountain and deeper than any sea.
To Die for the People (1972)
Police officer: What are you going to do with that gun?
Many times the poorest White person is the most racist because he is afraid that he might lose something, or discover something he does not have.
When a mechanic wants to fix a broken-down car engine, he must have the necessary tools to do the job. When the people move for liberation they must have the basic tool of liberation: the gun.
The blood, sweat, tears, and suffering of Black people are the foundations of the wealth and power of the United States of America. We were forced to build America, and if forced to, we will tear it down.
The black person ... is asked to respect laws that do not respect him. He is asked to digest a code of ethics that acts upon him but not for him.
The oppressor must be harassed until his doom. He must have no peace by day or by night. The slaves have always outnumbered the slavemasters. The power of the oppressor rests upon the submission of the people.
We realized at a very early point in our development that revolution is a process. It is not a particular action, nor is it a conclusion. It is a process.
I expected to die. At no time before the trial did I expect to escape with my life. Yet being executed in the gas chamber did not necessarily mean defeat. It could be one more step to bring the community to a higher level of consciousness.
Revolutionary Suicide (1973)
My foes have called me bum, hoodlum, criminal. Some have even called me nigger. I imagine now they'll at least have to call me Dr. Nigger.
Revolutionary suicide does not mean that I and my comrades have a death wish; it means just the opposite. We have such a strong desire to live with hope and human dignity that existence without them is impossible. When reactionary forces crush us, we must move against these forces, even at the risk of death.
Revolutionary Suicide (1973)