As an artist I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this.

The faces and the tactics of the leaders may change every four years, or two, or one, but the people go on forever.

Artists are the gate keepers of truth. We are civilization’s radical voice.

As an artist I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this.

I am being tried for fighting for the right of my people, who are still second-class citizens in this United States of America.

I stand here struggling for the rights of my people to be full citizens in this country. They are not-in Mississippi. They are not-in Montgomery. That is why I am here today. . . . You want to shut up every colored person who wants to fight for the rights of his people!.

Yes, peace can and must be won, to save the world from the terrible destruction of World War III.