The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution.
You can tell the tree by the fruit it bears. You see it through what the organization is delivering as far as a concrete program. If the tree's fruit sours or grows brackish, then the time has come to chop it down - bury it and walk over it and plant new seeds.
I think what motivates people is not great hate, but great love for other people.
We've never advocated violence; violence is inflicted upon us. But we do believe in self-defense for ourselves and for black people.
There's no reason for the establishment to fear me. But it has every right to fear the people collectively - I am one with the people.
I didn't get trained by the school system like other kids, and when I did concentrate on learning, my mind was cluttered and locked by the programming of the system.
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.
No one can say, 'I have dropped out - I am no longer in the system.' When you're in prison, you're even closer to the system: you feel it more, and you might be in there for whatever reason. You don't transform the system as an absolute thing.