Darnella Frazier
“Even though this was a traumatic life-changing experience for me, I’m proud of myself. If it weren’t for my video, the world wouldn’t have known the truth. I own that. My video didn’t save George Floyd, but it put his murderer away and off the streets.” May 25, 2021, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
—Taken from, George Floyd’s Murder: One Year Later, NPR.org, May 26, 2021
This image from a police body camera shows bystanders including Darnella Frazier (center) as Derek Chauvin, who was a police officer at the time, pressed his knee on George Floyd’s neck in Minneapolis.
Nicole Hannah-Jones
“At some point when you have proven yourself and fought your way into institutions that were not built for you, when you’ve proven you can compete and excel at the highest level, you have to decide that you are done forcing yourself in. I fought this battle because I know that all across this country black faculty, and faculty from other marginalized groups, are having their opportunities stifled, and that if political appointees could successfully stop my tenure, then they would only be emboldened to do it to others who do not have my platform. I had to stand up. And, I won the battle for tenure.” June 30, 2021, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
—Taken from, naacpldf.org, June 30, 2021
Naomi Osaka
“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris…I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly. The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that…” May 31, 2021, Paris, France.
—Taken from The New York Times, “Naomi Osaka Quits the French Open After News Conference Dispute”
by Matthew Futterman.
by Matthew Futterman.
Nicole Hannah-Jones
“At some point when you have proven yourself and fought your way into institutions that were not built for you, when you’ve proven you can compete and excel at the highest level, you have to decide that you are done forcing yourself in. I fought this battle because I know that all across this country black faculty, and faculty from other marginalized groups, are having their opportunities stifled, and that if political appointees could successfully stop my tenure, then they would only be emboldened to do it to others who do not have my platform. I had to stand up. And, I won the battle for tenure.” June 30, 2021, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
—Taken from, naacpldf.org, June 30, 2021
Ben Crump
“Demand President Biden show up for us! The George Floyd Justice In Policing Act will help protect us and our loved ones from suffering preventable deaths at the hands of law enforcement! Encourage President Biden to push for the urgent passing of this much-needed police reform.”
—Taken from Twitter @AttorneyCrump, August 29, 2021
Simone Biles
“I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a back seat, work on my mindfulness. And I knew that the girls would do an absolutely great job. And I didn’t want to risk the team a medal for kind of my screwups, because they’ve worked way too hard for that. So I just decided that those girls need to go and do the rest of our competition.”
“I say put mental health first. Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to. So it’s OK sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself, because it shows how strong of a competitor and person that you really are—rather than just battle through it.”
—July 28, 2021, Tokoyo, Japan.
Cornel West
“When my committee recommended a tenure review—also rejected by the Harvard administration—I knew my academic achievements and student teaching meant far less than their political prejudices.” June 30, 2021.
—Taken from Twitter @CornelWest.
“After the public outcry, the administration changed their minds: they said, ‘Now we’re open to a tenure review,’” West said. “You can’t impose and force people to respect you in that sense. That’s another reason why I knew I had to go…I’m the same guy that I was before and after the public outcry.”
—Taken from the Harvard Crimson, March 11, 2021, Cambridge, Massachusetts
“I wasn’t raised to put up with being disrespected or tolerate disrespect… I don’t try to negotiate respect.”