In 1990, when we started the Black Community Crusade for Children, we were always talking about all children, but we paid particular attention to children who were not white, who were poor, who were disabled, and who were the most vulnerable.Parents didn't think their children would live to adulthood, and the children didn't think they were going to live to adulthood. That's when we started our first gun-violence campaign. We've lost 17 times more young black people to gun violence since 1968 than we lost in all the lynching in slavery.
Marian Wright EdelmanPeople want to pick the leader, and we are obsessed with celebrity and whoever is on the cover of this or that.
Marian Wright EdelmanService is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.
Marian Wright EdelmanNever work just for money. Money alone won't save your soul or build a decent family life or help you sleep at night. We're the richest nation on Earth, with the highest number of imprisoned people in the world. Our drug addictions and child poverty are among the highest in the industrialized world. So don't ever confuse wealth or fame with character.
Marian Wright Edelman