A curated register of quotes from under-represented voices.

“ Just me existing, as an openly black transgender woman from a working-class background, thriving, is a political act. ”

— Laverne Cox

“ The only thing that separates women of colour from anyone else is opportunity. ”

— Viola Davis, 2015

“ I remember that love conquers fear, always, and that to be a man means accepting myself, weaknesses and all. That's my true superpower. ”

— Terry Crews, 2014

“ I'm not OK with someone writing the Asian experience for an Asian character. ”

— Awkwafina, 2019

“ Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man. And I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. ”

— Morgan Freeman, 2005

“ Europeans didn't vibe with the way women held power in many Native societies. ”

— Lily Gladstone, 2023

“ If your dream only includes you, it's too small. ”

— Ava DuVernay

“ I encourage women to step up. Don't wait for somebody to ask you. ”

— Reese Witherspoon

“ I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me... the highest positive is forgiveness. ”

— Sidney Poitier, 2000

“ This is politics for me. This is my life. I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars. ”

— Billy Porter, 2019

“ The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind. ”

— Marlee Matlin

“ 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, 2017

“ There is not an industry I can think of where there is equal pay for equal work, or abuse of power doesn't exist, for men and for women. And so equality is not a political issue, it's a humanitarian issue. ”

— Cate Blanchett, 2018

“ There is hope in the young people out there. And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets: I see you, I admire you, I thank you. ”

— Zendaya, 2020

“ I'm a proud person who happens to be deaf. ”

— Marlee Matlin

“ It's hard as a young person of a different ethnicity or background to look at the TV and not see anyone who looks like you. ”

— Zendaya, 2016

“ Being kind is a choice that you can make absolutely every single day. ”

— Tom Hanks, 2019

“ I'm trying to take the stigma off the word ambitious, so we encourage more little girls to be ambitious, because I do think that's how society will change. ”

— Reese Witherspoon

“ I shall dance all my life. ”

— Josephine Baker

“ There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself. ”

— Hannah Gadsby

“ Why not me? ”

— Mindy Kaling, 2015