At a peace festival in a working-class area of Philadelphia, the Veterans for Peace were there. This working-class guy brought up the subject of anti-war coalition meetings. “They’re getting worse and worse, less and less practical. They must think verbosity makes peace. They exhaust me. I have to go home and get up to get the kids to school and go to work. I can’t stay as long as people who have more discretion in when to get up. I have to stop going to these meetings.”
— George Lakey
There’s a woman who I think of as one of my best allies. But when I would say to her, “So & so said this to me,” and I wanted her to be my ally about classism, she’d say “She didn’t really mean it that way.” One time I said, “I know she didn’t mean it that way, but I need you to understand that I’m feeling hurt and listen and be a friend and not try to fix it.” After that, she got it, and we became really close.
— Linda Stout
In many organizations I’ve been part of, decision-making is hard. Middle-class people with more education are just faster and more articulate. Others are silenced because they can’t keep up with the style of arguing.
— Barbara Willer