Regular readers know that I recently returned from a trip to
Colombia, where I met with a lot of kickass activists who gave me a lifetime’s worth of stuff to think about. I thought I’d share some of the highlights.

From an activist who faces death daily, and whose son had a gun held to his head because of her activities:

“Words entangle. Bodies are clear.”

“I’m not afraid because I have a sense of history.”

“Some people never say anything because they think that will keep them safe, and they get killed anyway. I won’t let them make me stop myself.”

“My hope comes from the people who have hope, even when they don’t have a reason to. And it’s not naive hope that inspires me. It’s hope with eyes open.”

From a Colombian feminist:

“The counter-memory of the oppressed is the evidence of resistance.”

“…This counter-memory is the principle quality of la cotidiana (daily life).”

From a feminist man doing work with masculinity and gender:

“If we ask ourselves why we are men in this way, we will ask ourselves what other kinds of men we could be.”

From a liberation theologian:

“We must dialogue the present with the past. When the present is dark and unclear, we must find light somewhere. That light is in the past. It is not in the future, because the future is not here yet.”