Quotes
“ Growing up in the Western world, there are so many times where I'm like, Oh, I'm not white. My name is not that easy to say. I'm not as relatable as a white person. ”
— Rina Sawayama
Music Women Asian LGBTQ+ She / Her · Pronounced: REE-nuh sah-wah-YAH-mah
She / Her · Pronounced: REE-nuh sah-wah-YAH-mah
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Sawayama on growing up feeling caught between cultures in the UK.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ You're trying to take all this misunderstanding and loathing, and you're trying to turn it into love, which is the wonderful thing that happens when you're trying to make music out of the rough, hard, bad things. ”
— Bruce Springsteen
Music Male Role Models He / Him · Pronounced: BROOSS SPRING-steen
He / Him · Pronounced: BROOSS SPRING-steen
Source: Esquire interview · original link to be verified
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Springsteen on what he's actually trying to do with the harder material in his songwriting.
“ My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and I never leave the house because of it. ”
— Kid Cudi
Music Black He / Him · Pronounced: KID KOO-dee
He / Him · Pronounced: KID KOO-dee
Context Cudi's own words in the post explaining why he had checked into treatment.
“ For the longest time I was trying to be white and fit in, that's also fine at some points in your life, I had to do that to survive in certain spaces. ”
— Rina Sawayama
Music Women Asian LGBTQ+ She / Her · Pronounced: REE-nuh sah-wah-YAH-mah
She / Her · Pronounced: REE-nuh sah-wah-YAH-mah
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Sawayama on code-switching to survive spaces not built for her.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ I think ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person that you always should have been. ”
— David Bowie
Music Male Role Models He / Him · Pronounced: DAY-vid BOH-ee
He / Him · Pronounced: DAY-vid BOH-ee
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Bowie, reflecting on growing older as becoming more truly himself rather than less.
“ I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. ”
— Nina Simone
Music Women Black She / Her · Pronounced: NEE-nuh sih-MOHN
She / Her · Pronounced: NEE-nuh sih-MOHN
Context Simone's own definition of freedom, from a life spent refusing to be made small.
“ Everybody supports women until a woman's doing better than you. ”
— Sofia Isella
Music Women She / Her · Pronounced: soh-FEE-uh ih-SEL-uh
She / Her · Pronounced: soh-FEE-uh ih-SEL-uh
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context A single standout line from Isella's song, included as a narrow exception to the site's no-lyrics rule for standalone, aphoristic statements.
“ People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don't necessarily merit fear. ”
— Frank Ocean
Music Black LGBTQ+ He / Him · Pronounced: FRANK OH-shun
He / Him · Pronounced: FRANK OH-shun
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Ocean, who came out via an open letter before his 2012 album release, on fear.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ Wherever we are, this is home. Wherever I go, I'll always be Puerto Rican. ”
— Bad Bunny
Music Latinx He / Him · Pronounced: BAD BUN-ee
He / Him · Pronounced: BAD BUN-ee
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Bad Bunny on identity and belonging as a Puerto Rican artist.
Read More: Latinx Voices
“ I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend. ”
— Freddie Mercury
Music LGBTQ+ Global South He / Him · Pronounced: FRED-ee MER-kyuh-ree
He / Him · Pronounced: FRED-ee MER-kyuh-ree
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context The Queen frontman on his own mythology; he was born in Zanzibar to Parsi parents.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ I am Puerto Rican, I am Caribbean, and my music, my culture, my country's history run through my veins, from plena to reggaeton. ”
— Bad Bunny
Music Latinx He / Him · Pronounced: BAD BUN-ee
He / Him · Pronounced: BAD BUN-ee
Source: TIME interview · original link to be verified
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Bad Bunny on the musical lineage running through his own work.
Read More: Latinx Voices
“ I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you. ”
— John Lennon
Music Male Role Models He / Him · Pronounced: JON LEN-un
He / Him · Pronounced: JON LEN-un
Context Lennon, in one of his final major interviews, on the limits of what anyone else can do for you.
“ I never thought of being blind as a disadvantage, and I never thought of being black as a disadvantage. I am what I am. I love me! ”
— Stevie Wonder
Music Male Role Models Disabled Black He / Him · Pronounced: STEE-vee WUN-der
He / Him · Pronounced: STEE-vee WUN-der
Source: The Guardian interview · original link to be verified
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Wonder, who has been blind since shortly after birth, on refusing to see either part of who he is as a limitation.
Read More: Disability Rights
“ Small changes end up making a big difference. It's about being a lot nicer to each other. It's just saying, 'Treat people with kindness.' ”
— Harry Styles
Music Male Role Models He / Him · Pronounced: HAIR-ee STYLZ
He / Him · Pronounced: HAIR-ee STYLZ
Context Styles on the origin of 'Treat People With Kindness', the phrase that became his own mantra and merchandise line.
“ It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live. ”
— Nina Simone
Music Women Black She / Her · Pronounced: NEE-nuh sih-MOHN
She / Her · Pronounced: NEE-nuh sih-MOHN
Context Simone on the artist's responsibility to their times, which she lived through the civil-rights era.
“ The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. ”
— Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Politics Women Black Global South She / Her · Pronounced: EL-en JON-sun SEER-leef
She / Her · Pronounced: EL-en JON-sun SEER-leef
Context Africa's first elected female head of state.
Read More: Black Activism
“ I became an artist, and thank god I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. ”
— Viola Davis
Entertainment Women Black She / Her · Pronounced: vy-OH-luh DAY-viss
She / Her · Pronounced: vy-OH-luh DAY-viss
Context Davis's Oscars speech for Fences, on the purpose of her profession.
“ It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. ”
— Wangari Maathai
Activism Women Black Global South She / Her · Pronounced: wahn-GAH-ree mah-THY
She / Her · Pronounced: wahn-GAH-ree mah-THY
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Read More: Black Activism Their Story Kenyan environmentalist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004. She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, which has since organised the planting of tens of millions of trees across Kenya, led largely by women. She died in 2011.
Her memoir 'Unbowed' and her Nobel lecture are the fullest primary sources. See Their Full Story
“ Equality for LGBTQIA+ folks in Thailand means 'legal equality.' ”
— Cyndy Bangsalee
Technology Women LGBTQ+ Global South She / Her · Pronounced: SIN-dee BANG-sah-lee
She / Her · Pronounced: SIN-dee BANG-sah-lee
Context Bangsalee, a Thoughtworks employee in Thailand, on the gap between social acceptance and full legal equality.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ If we truly envision an equal world, it takes equal effort and sacrifice. Today is one of the most indelible days of my life because of Mark Wahlberg, WME and a community of women and men who share in this accomplishment. ”
— Michelle Williams
Entertainment Women She / Her · Pronounced: mih-SHEL WIL-yumz
She / Her · Pronounced: mih-SHEL WIL-yumz
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Williams after her co-star donated his reshoot fee to close the pay gap between them.
“ My disability is not something I've had to overcome. I'm still Deafblind. The biggest barrier I face is ableism. ”
— Haben Girma
Activism Women Disabled Black She / Her · Pronounced: HAH-ben GEER-mah
She / Her · Pronounced: HAH-ben GEER-mah
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, on the social model of disability.
Read More: Black Activism
