Soul Force

Jesus ‘But I say to you that, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.’

Henry David Thoreau The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men, but as machines, with their bodies. In most cases there is no free exercise whatsoever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also.

A. Philip Randolph The very nature of a struggle on the part of labor and minorities…renders it inevitable that labor and minorities join the camp of and stand by and for the forces of democracy. For it is only within the framework of democracy that labor and minorities can achieve freedom, equality and justice.

Mohandas Gandhi The hardest metal yields to sufficient heat. Even so must the hardest heart melt before sufficiency of the heat of non- violence. And there is no limit to the capacity of non-violence to generate heat.

Martin Luther King, Jr. ► “Soul Force”  Love your enemy  Refusal to obey an unjust law  Organize huge demonstrations  Resist oppression through non-violence

“Soul Force” “We will not hate you, but we cannot obey your unjust laws. We will soon wear you down by our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom, we will so appeal to your heart and your conscience that we will win you in the process.”