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

“ Be kind to one another. ”

— Ellen DeGeneres

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

— Marlee Matlin

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

— Reese Witherspoon

“ I'm definitely not all Asians, but the thing that I've always done is aggressively been myself. ”

— Awkwafina, 2018

“ 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

“ Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it. A shared language says 'We're the same.' A language barrier says 'We're different.' ”

— Trevor Noah, 2016

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

— Hannah Gadsby

“ Depression is not as easy as saying, 'Just find your joy and you're going to become happy.' That was never my experience. ”

— Jonathan Van Ness, 2019

“ 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

“ The stories we tell about communities affect the laws that get passed, the people that get attacked, the countries that get invaded. ”

— Riz Ahmed

“ I think having a baby sliced out of you is pretty hardcore. ”

— Ali Wong, 2015

“ There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. ”

— Elliot Page, 2023

“ I use my platform for more than just myself. To neglect the political is to neglect what essentially is your job of storytelling. ”

— Zendaya

“ 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

“ If I was being 'sold' as a commodity of equal value to my male counterpart and worked as hard as him, I couldn't reconcile why I wasn't being remunerated equally. ”

— Cate Blanchett

“ 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 know that the ones who love us will miss us. ”

— Keanu Reeves, 2019

“ It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America. ”

— Patricia Arquette, 2015

“ 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

“ Fall forward. Every failed experiment is one step closer to success. ”

— Denzel Washington, 2015