I would prefer to use a very inclusive definition of the working class. I'd like to include all of those people who are, if they're not exploited by an immediate employer over them, they're exploited by the system and therefore have a cause to want to change the system. Having a very inclusive definition of the working class creates a great opportunity for organizing people.

The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those special people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change.

Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now beginning to fail for the middle classes.

People should go where they are not supposed to go, say what they are not supposed to say, and stay when they are told to leave.

I wanted to be a part of history and not just a recorder and teacher of history. So that kind of attitude towards history, history itself as a political act, has always informed my writing and my teaching.

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.

They have the guns, we have the poets. Therefore, we will win.