Change comes only through action, not passive acceptance or endurance

Evidence

The recent women’s movement failed to adequately address the issue of sexist oppression, but that failure does not change the fact that it exists, that we are victimized by it to varying degrees, nor does it free any of us from assuming responsibility for change. Many black women are daily victimized by sexist oppression. More often than not we bear our pain in silence, patiently waiting for a change to come. But neither passive acceptance nor stoic endurance lead to change. Change occurs only when there is action, movement, revolution. The 19th century black female was a woman of action. Her suffering, the harshness of her lot in a racist, sexist world, and her concern for the plight of others motivated her to join feminist struggle. She did not allow the racism of white women’s rights advocates or the sexism of black men to deter her from political involvement. She did not rely on any group to provide her with a blueprint for change. She was a maker of blueprints. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 557

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s earlier portrait of 19th-century black women activists and their independent political involvement. — connects to: Perseverance is generational work, not individual completion — , A Year of World Stories, 7789; Dialogue becomes action only when it can change something. — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition: A Guide…, 188; Positive change requires repeated attempts and sacrifices. — Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life An Antidote to Chaos, 648 (+7 more)

Related

• Movements only become transformative when they learn nothing exists naturally. (similarity 0.90)
• Risk emerges only from one’s own decision and action, never from inaction (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Trust is won by a transformative rather than conforming response to expectations #expands (0.72)
• Positive change requires repeated attempts and sacrifices. #corroborates (0.70) — Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life An Antidote to Chaos, 648