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I Have My Rights, Not Because Of Washington Suddenly Deciding, Strom Thurmond And Others, "hey, Let's Give Certain Americans Equal Rights." But Because Of The Ardent, Unyielding Voice Of Protesters.

-Cory Booker

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I Have My Rights,

Cory Booker

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I Have My Rights, Not Because Of Washington Suddenly Deciding, Strom Thurmond And Others, "hey, Let's Give Certain Americans Equal Rights." But Because Of The Ardent, Unyielding Voice Of Protesters.

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Don't Speak To Me About Your Religion; First Show It To Me In How You Treat Other People. Don't Tell Me How Much You Love Your God; Show Me In How Much You Love All God's Children. Don't Preach To Me Your Passion For Your Faith; Teach Me Through Your Compassion For Your Neighbors. In The End, I'm Not As Interested In What You Have To Tell Or Sell As I Am In How You Choose To Live And Give.

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Here, We Have A Country That Is Making Its Veterans, People Who Are Struggling With Post-traumatic Stress, People Who Are Struggling With Depression, Who Often They're Only Hope Is Their Access To Marijuana To Treat These Illnesses, And Here We Are Criminalizing Them For Doing What's Necessary To Stabilize Their Lives As A Result Of Their Service. This Is Not Who We Are As A Country. We Are Better Than This.

I Still Remember How Upset I Was In The Aftermath Of President Obama's Election, Where People In Republican Leadership Didn't Say That, "hey, I Want To Focus On The Issues And Values Of Our Country," But, "my Number One Goal Is To See That Barack Obama Is Not A Two Term President." That To Me Is Outrageous. I Would Never Do That. My Number One Goal Is To Fight To Protect Poor People, Ethnic And Religious Minorities, Working Class Folks.

Let Your Critics Make You Humble, And Your Enemies Make You Wise. Learn From Every Stumble But Let Nothing Keep You Down, For You Were Born To Rise!

Positive Thinking

It's About Time That We Create First Class Citizenship For Every American Plain And Simple. Every New Jersey-ian. This Should Not Be A Popular Vote. This Is Something We Should Do Now.

We Need To Be Acting Responsible As Adults, And I Don't Endorse In Any Way The Irresponsible Use Of Marijuana. But I Do Believe We Have Come To A Point In Our Society Where We Need To End Prohibition. We Need To Have Taxed, Regulated Marijuana Within American Communities.

If Donald Trump Governs The Way He Campaigned, It'll Be A Disastrous Presidency. This Is A Chance For Him To Be Magnanimous, Humble. To Work Across The Aisle. If That's The Kind Of President We Have, That's Fine. But If Not, I Want Our Dnc Chair, I Want Democratic Senators And Congresspeople, Citizens, We Need To Resist.

We Started America With The Sin Of Slavery That Led Right Into The Post-reconstruction Period Which Was The Greatest Period Of Domestic Terrorism In Our Country's History. Then After That, We Had Jim Crow Emerge And Just When The Jim Crow Laws Were Ending Came The Onslaught Of The Drug War. Well, The Drug War Has So Perniciously Effected, Insidiously Infected Communities Of Color That In Some Ways It Has Come Full Circle, And We Now Have More African Americans Under Criminal Supervision Than All Of The Slaves In 1865. This Is A Profoundly Unjust War.

If You Understand The Black Lives Matter Movement, There's No Central Leadership Of The Movement. This Is An Organic, Grassroots Movement All Around America.

I'm A Competitor. And I Don't Want To Say, Hey, Just Because This Person Is A Woman Or This Person Is A Minority, That They're Not Going To Get The White Male Vote.

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Marriage Equality Is Not A Choice. It Is A Legal Right.

Marriage Equality

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As I Review The Great History Of Our Nation, Community Organizers Have Been At The Center Of So Many Of Our Great Social Movements.

I Hope And Understand That People Are Getting A Better Recognition That Food Stamps Is A Program That Really Helps America, Helps Families In Need. It's Not A Government Handout. If Anything, It's A Safety Net That Helps People Through Difficult Times And Bridges Them Towards Stability.

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I Love Talking About The Challenges [newark, Nj] Has Because Of The Way They Are Always Brilliantly Disguised As Opportunities.. .the Biggest Global Challenge That There Is Is A Challenge Of The Spirit, A Challenge Of Our Vision, A Challenge And A Test Of Our Ideals, Of Who We Say We Are Going To Be.

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The History In Our Country Speaks To Our Highest Values Of People Who Did Not Accept Things As They Are And Go Along With Them. They Resisted, They Refused To Accept The World As It Is, They Demanded It To Be A Better Reflection Of Their Highest Dreams And Highest Aspirations.

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May We All, As A Nation Of Believers, Fight For The Achievement Of America, May We Make Sacrifices Worthy Of Those Proud Men And Women Who Fought For Us, Labored For Us, Bled Soil From The Beaches Of Normandy To The Fields Of Gettysburg For Us.

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If You Look At Great Human Civilizations, From The Roman Empire To The Soviet Union, You Will See That Most Do Not Fail Simply Due To External Threats But Because Of Internal Weakness, Corruption Or A Failure To Manifest The Values And Ideals They Espouse.

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No Matter Who You Are, No Matter What Your Color, Creed, How You Choose To Pray Or Who You Choose To Love, That If You Are An American - First Generation Or Fifth - One Who Is Willing To Work Hard, Play By The Rules And Apply Your God-given Talents - That You Should Be Able To Find A Job That Pays The Bills.

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I Caution Anyone Who In Their Protest Becomes The Very Thing That They're Protesting Against. Meaning Turning To Hateful Speech, Violating Principles And Ideals That Are Sacred In America. We Need To Raise Our Voices, But We Do Not Need To Indulge In Hate.

Before You Tell Me What You Teach And Preach, Show Me How You Live And Give.

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No Matter What, We Always Have The Power To Choose Hope Over Despair, Engagement Over Apathy, Kindness Over Indifference, Love Over Hate.

Greatness Is Helping Others Realize They Are Great, Beautiful And Capable. Genius Is Seeing The Wonder And Possibility In Those Others Ignore.

The First Thing We Should Be Concerned About The Blm Movement Should Be The Issues That The Black Lives Matter Movement Is Bringing Forward. There's No Fundamental Platform Being Brought By Activists In Oakland, Baltimore, Or New Jersey. The Main Issues That You See, The Commonality Between Activists All Around The Country, Are Trying To Deal With The Challenges In The Criminal Justice System, Something That Is Very Much Central To My Work. So My Hope Is That People Stay Focused On The Urgency To Create Justice Here At Home.

You Cant Have A Physical Transformation Until You Have A Spiritual Transformation.

Spiritual Transformation

Life Is About Where You Are Right Now, And The Choices You Make.

One Of The Very Hallmarks Of Our Nation Is The Ideal Of E Pluribus Unum. It Is A Concept That Richly Flows From The Highest Ideals Of Our Nation.

When You Have A President In His Campaign Who Ran Saying Things That Not Are Just Contrary To A Fact, But Literally Threatening To Use Presidential Power In A Way That Would Erode The Rights And Privileges And Equality Of Large Sections Of Americans, God Bless The Protestors.

You Should Be Able To Afford Health Care For Your Family. You Should Be Able To Retire With Dignity And Respect. And You Should Be Able To Give Your Children The Kind Of Education That Allows Them To Dream Even Bigger, Go Even Farther And Accomplish Even More Than You Could Ever Imagine.

Real Courage Is Holding On To A Still Voice In Your Head That Says, 'i Must Keep Going.' It's That Voice That Says Nothing Is A Failure If It Is Not Final. That Voice That Says To You, 'get Out Of Bed. Keep Going. I Will Not Quit.'

Don't Let Your Inability To Do Everything Undermine Your Determination To Do Something.

If We Cannot Provide Excellent Educational Opportunities To All Children, Safe Communities, Quality Health Coverage, Or Robust And Fair Avenues Towards Wealth Creation, Then Our Nation Will Increasingly Be In Peril.

Dream Big & Have Huge Ambition, But Never Forget Life Is Lived In Small Moments And Sustained By Simple Acts Of Love.

Heroism Is Not Fighting Some Big Battle. It Is Not Standing Up To Some Fearsome Foe ... Heroism Is Every Day Getting Up With A Mission To Show This World That You Are Going To Light It Up With Your Spirit, To Make The Best Out Of Yourself.

Cynicism Cripples Our Imagination And Limits Our Ability To See Faint Possibilities Amidst Glaring Problems.

The More You Limit Your Choices, Thereby Limiting Thought, The More You Can Simplify Your Life And Focus Your Energy Elsewhere.

I Have My Rights, Not Because Of Washington Suddenly Deciding, Strom Thurmond And Others, "hey, Let's Give Certain Americans Equal Rights." But Because Of The Ardent, Unyielding Voice Of Protesters.

The Only Thing That Weakens Worry Is Work, So I Will Be Working For Marie Corfield

When Happy, Be Kind. When Angry, Be Kind. When Hopeful, Be Kind. When Discouraged, Be Kind. When Ever, Be Kind.

Give The Respect You Want To Receive; Embody The Grace You Hope To Encounter; And Help Others With No Expectations Whatsoever.

The Change We Seek For Our Nation Is Not The Choice Of An Individual But Must Be The Calling Of A Country.

We Become Distracted From Productive Labors By Our Perceived Opponents; We Become Focused On Them And Not On Our Larger Calling To Advance Our Nation; Our Debate Becomes More About Scoring Points Against An Adversary And Less About Advancing Our Common Cause.

May We Help More Than We Hurt, May We Seek To Understand More Than Be Understood And May We Love More Than We Judge.

Any Democrat Running Is Trying To Get That Barack Obama Coalition, Which Is An Increasingly Diverse Voter Base. It's Young Folks. It's Minorities, As Well As White Women. I Don't Think We As A Party Can Afford To Alienate Or Not Try To Speak To The Concerns, Fears, Insecurities, Aspirations Of White Men. We Should Not Give Up That Ground.

What More Could You Ask For In Life Than To Be Given An Impossible Challenge?

I Do Not Believe That Marijuana Is A Gateway Drug, And Having Been A Mayor Trying To Keep My Community Safe, If There Was Any Drug That Was Driving Violence, More Than Marijuana, It Was Alcohol Which Is Legal. And So I Just Don't Think This Is A Gateway Drug. And By The Way, If You Regulate It You're Actually Going To Overcome A Lot Of Problems With People Having To Go To The Streets To Buy Their Drug. You Don't Know How Dangerous That Is.

Give More Than Is Expected, Love More Than Seems Wise, Serve More Than Seems Necessary, And Help More Than Is Asked.

I Think That We Need To Have An Honest Conversation In This Country. This Idea That Somehow We're Beyond Sexism, Beyond Racism Is Just Wrong. And This Is Where Having An Honest Conversation With White Men About Their Issues And Their Concerns, And Having Honest Conversations About The Experiences That African-americans Are Still Having, Despite Who's The President Of The United States, In The Criminal Justice System That We See In Sentencing, We See In Policing And A Lot Of These Issues.

Go Out There And Swear To This World Your Oath, Not With Your Words, But With What You Do. Not With Your Hand Over Your Heart, But With Your Hand Outstretched To A World That Desperately Needs Your Hand, Your Help, Your Insights, Your Creativity, Your Honor, Your Courage. It Needs You.

I Want You To Understand That Racial Justice Is Not About Justice For Those Who Are Black Or Brown; Racial Justice Is About American Justice. Justice For Lgbt Americans Is Not About Gay And Lesbian Justice; It's About American Justice. Equality For Women Isn't About Women; It's About United States Equality. You Cannot Enjoy Justice Anywhere In This Country Until We Make Sure There Is Justice Everywhere In This Country.

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