Fannie Lou Hamer Quotes

How shall those who practice election frauds recover that respect for the sanctity of the ballot which is the first condition and obligation of good citizenship? The man who has come to regard the ballot box as a juggler's hat has renounced his allegiance.

Our chief aim as public-spirited citizens must be neither to avoid trouble, nor to stay out of jail, nor even to preserve our lives, but to keep on fighting for our fundamental principles and ideals.

Citizenship is a lifetime job.

If you love your country you’ll find ways somehow to speak out to do what you think is right.

The health of our republic depends on shared principles like the First Amendment, but it is also built on the Teddy Roosevelt-like vigor of its citizens and local self-reliance.

Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.

Voting is how we participate in a civic society - be it for president, be it for a municipal election. It's the way we teach our children - in school elections - how to be citizens, and the importance of their voice.

When I think about voting, I can skip it and still see myself as a good citizen. But when I think about being a voter, now the choice reflects on my character. It casts a shadow.

In giving rights to others which belong to them, we give rights to ourselves and to our country

I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham.

Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make his own informed opinion and stand by it.

There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.

I do feel, in a sense, the rules of engagement for citizenship has changed, and we must encourage other people to speak up and to take action.

When I wrote the song, The Way It Is, I wanted to move people to take a stand on civil rights in this country.

Voting is a civic sacrament - the highest responsibility we have as Americans.

If parents instill a sense of civic-mindedness - and there is no better way to do that than by example - their children will probably follow.

I believe that engaging in the political process is part of being a good person.

The role we can play every day, if we try, is to take the whole experience of every day and shape it to involve American man. It is our job to interest him in his community and to give his ideas the excitement they should have.

Without Country you have neither name, token, voice, nor rights …. Do not delude yourselves with the hope of emancipation from unjust social conditions if you do not first conquer a country for yourselves.

To place and power all public spirit tends, In place and power all public spirit ends; Like hardy plants, that love the air and sky, When out, 'twill thrive—but taken in, 'twill die!

We have a great nation to help govern. We who are citizens of this great republic are favored children, yet we are all the time complaining; but that is one of the inalienable privileges of an American to complain about his neighbor and government-always crying for a change. But, with all of its faults, this is the best government for man on the face of the earth

Citizenship is not a transaction where you put your taxes in and take your services out. It is a relationship.

Responsible citizenship comes from direct participation in the conduct of the government, and imposes equal responsibility upon every citizen. If we could quicken and increase appreciation of this responsibility, and every citizen were made to feel its weight and importance, it would go far toward improving our political and national life.

I like people in the cities, in the States and in the Nation to ask themselves now and then: 'What can I do for my city?' not 'How much can I get out of my city?' I like people to speak now and then in the same devotion to State and Nation.

Education, then, as universally diffused as the elements of God, is the life-blood of our body politic. The intelligence of the people is the one great fact of our civilization and our prosperity, — it is the beating heart of our age and of our land. It is education alone which makes equality possible without anarchy, and liberty without license.