Advocacy Quotes

“If you're afraid to defend your convictions because you might get your ass kicked for it, you're not really fit to advocate for them.”
― James Carlos Blake

“It is time to embrace mental health and substance use/abuse as illnesses. Addiction is a disease.”
― Steven Kassels

“Most Romans believed that their system of government was the finest political invention of the human mind. Change was inconceivable. Indeed, the constitution's various parts were so mutually interdependent that reform within the rules was next to impossible. As a result, radicals found that they had little choice other than to set themselves beyond and against the law. This inflexibility had disastrous consequences as it became increasingly clear that the Roman state was incapable of responding adequately to the challenges it faced. Political debate became polarized into bitter conflicts, with radical outsiders trying to press change on conservative insiders who, in the teeth of all the evidence, believed that all was for the best under the best of all possible constitutions (16).”
― Anthony Everitt, Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician

“Mental illness is not something you misunderstand in this era. Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Be an advocate for the people and causes important to you, using the most powerful tool only you have—your personal stories.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage

“The weapon of the advocate is the sword of the soldier, not the dagger of the assassin.”
― Alexander Cockburn

“As you become your own advocate and your own steward, your life will beautifully transform.”
― Miranda J. Barrett, A Woman's Truth: A Life Truly Worth Living

“The enormity of problems like hunger and social injustice can certainly motivate us to act. We can be convinced logically of the need for intervention and change. But it is the story of one individual that ultimately makes the difference—by offering
living proof.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage

“What does it mean to be an advocate?
In its broadest sense, advocacy means “any public action to support and recommend a cause, policy or practice.” That covers a lot of public actions, from displaying
 a bumper sticker to sounding off with a bullhorn. But whether the action is slapping something on the back of a car or speaking in front of millions, every act of advocacy involves making some kind of public statement, one that says, “I support this.” Advocacy is a communicative act. Advocacy is also a persuasive act. “I support this” is usually followed by another statement (sometimes only implied): “...and you should, too.” Advocacy not only means endorsing a cause or idea, but recommending, promoting, defending, or arguing for it.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage, Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference

“I now think that was distanced me from Tricia and from the Rape Crisis Center was their use of generalities. I did not want to be one of a group or compared with others. It somehow blindsided my sense that I was going to survive. Tricia prepared me for failure by saying that it would be okay if I failed. She did this by showing me that the odds out there were against me. But what she told me, I didn't want to hear. In the face of dismal statistics regarding arrest, prosecution, and even full recovery for the victim, I saw no choice but to ignore the statistics. I needed what gave me hope, like being assigned a female assistant district attorney, not the news that the number of rape prosecutions in Syracuse for that calendar year had been nil.”
― Alice Sebold, Lucky

“Social networks are more than just repositories for trivial, snap judgments; they are more than merely convenient outlets for mindless joy and outrage. They offer more than the common ground and the solace we may find during culturally significant moments. Social networks also provide us with something of a flawed but necessary conscience, a constant reminder that commitment, compassion, and advocacy neither can nor ever should be finite.”
― Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist

“The power of your story may not lie in its drama, but in its absolutely perfect relationship to your cause.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage, Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference

“Rule #1: No cut or compromise should be suggested by ANY member of the community. This includes the music coalition, music educators, and the music supervisor.

Suggest a cut or compromise, and you become responsible for the decision.”
― John Benham, Music Advocacy: Moving From Survival to Vision

“The key to becoming a proactive influence for music education is the development of a "dream list." It is more often referred to as a long-term plan. Do you know what you want your program to look like in the next five years? Ten years? Start now!”
― John Benham, Music Advocacy: Moving From Survival to Vision

“Do all the work you while you still have strength.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita, Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind

“We Lesbian Avengers have built this shrine. It stands for our fear. It stands for our grief. It stands for our rage. And it enshrines our intention to live fully and completely as who we are, wherever we are. We take the fire of action into our hearts. And we take it into our bodies. And we stand, here and now, to make it known that we are here, and here we will stay. Our fear does not consume us. Their fire will not consume us. We take that fire, and we make it our own.”
― Kelly J. Cogswell, Eating Fire: My Life as a Lesbian Avenger

“We are more sensitive to losses than to gains; the pleasure of winning is less than the pain of losing.”
― John A. Daly

“When it comes to peace, we need to facilitate peace-makers' personal engagement and their genuine desire to bridge the gap between advocacy knowledge and skills necessary to differentiate between theory and practice in the field of conflict management.”
― Widad Akrawi

“It is not loving to impose our own grid onto others. We need to understand their situation and their needs accurately, and this comes from listening to them, not coming in with our own assumptions.”
― Matt Perman, What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done

“Advocating well with a personal story is not a call to simply “Insert Story Here.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage, Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference

“The space between the private and the public is the nexus of the personal and the social, if not political. It’s where we meet the strong or subtle cultural censors who attempt to define what community, race, class, or gender can or cannot speak, to tell us which stories are told and valued and which are not. In short, it’s where we’re reminded of the power of personal stories and the power of the storyteller.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage, Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference

“Despite my deep unease about animal advocates working for things we don't want and asking for changes we don't believe in, I am not an "abolitionist." First, the abolition of animal slavery will no more end speciesism by itself than the abolition of American slavery ended racism. To change the world, I think we should aim higher. Second, I'm increasingly convinced that no matter who uses the term, it hides a slur. When used to refer to others, it connotes zealotry and obstructionism, and when taken as self-definition, it is seen as an attack by anyone who does not apply it to herself. Yes, it's a highly defensible moral philosophy, right up there with Peter Singer's application of Utilitarianism to animal liberation, and Tom Regan's Theory of Rights, but like those other intellectual concepts, it's useful only so far as it engenders right action.”
― Sarahjane Blum, Confronting Animal Exploitation: Grassroots Essays on Liberation and Veganism

“Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) does not work. Opiate addicts live in our communities and in our families & they work in our businesses.”
― Steven Kassels

“If something struck your mind, try to have patience to deal with your anxiety issues.”
― Saaif Alam

“It’s not by story alone that successful advocates urge others to take action. Advocating with our personal stories takes a specific kind of preparation. It requires practice with elements of persuasion, public speaking, media interview skills and storytelling—not to mention healthy does of fortitude and commitment.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage

“You may have come to advocacy on your own, it may be part of your job or you may have been asked to “put a face” on a campaign by serving as its spokesperson. You may be acting as a lone crusader or as part of a larger advocacy effort. Either way, you share an objective with all other advocates: to have your story move audiences from apathy to empathy to action.”
― John Capecci and Timothy Cage, Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference