"As life-affirming moral agents, we have a responsibility to study the ideological hegemony of the past so that we do not remain doomed to the recurring cyclical patterns of hermeneutical distortions in the present—that is, violence against women, condemnation of homosexuality, spiritualizing Scripture to justify capitalism." - Katie Geneva Cannon ; Katie's Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community (p. 173)
"To those who have hunger, give bread; and to those who have bread, give the hunger for justice." - Quoted by Melanie Mullen in We Cry Justice (p. 25) ; Benedictine prayer
"They were often unable, however, to connect one struggle for reform with another; for example, white abolitionists largely ignored lynching and white feminists argued over suffrage for blacks. Those fighting for economic justice overlooked the devastating impact of 'progress' on the environment. Nonetheless, these movements shaped the society in enduring ways. They testify to the legacy of struggle, still incomplete, to dwell rightly in paradise here and now. Their commitments live on in the marrow of those today who love this world and who resist all the death-dealing forces in it." - Rita Nakashima Brock & Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parkera ; Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire, p. 378
"Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” - Jesus ; Matthew 11.4-6
"There can be no Christian theology that is not social and political. If theology is to speak about the God of Jesus who is revealed in the struggle of the oppressed for freedom, then theology must also become political, speaking for the God of the poor and the oppressed." - James H. Cone ; God of the Oppressed
"The parable's harvest thus symbolically represents a dramatic shattering of the vassal relationship between peasant and landlord. With such surplus, the farmer could not only eat and pay his rent, tithes, and debts, but indeed even purchase the land, and thus end his servitude forever." - Ched Myers ; Binding the Strong Man: a political reading of Mark's story of Jesus
“Being poor,” they write, “reduces a person’s cognitive capacity more than going a full night without sleep.” When we are preoccupied by poverty, “we have less mind to give to the rest of life.” Poverty does not just deprive people of security and comfort; it siphons off their brainpower, too. - Matthew Desmond ; Poverty, by America (pp. 21-22)
Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." - Gospel of Luke ; Luke 6.20
"America’s poverty is not for lack of resources. We lack something else." - Matthew Desmond ; Poverty, by America (p. 7)
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. - Gospel of Luke ; Luke 4.18
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” - Gospel of Matthew ; Matthew 19.21
"This is who we are: the richest country on earth, with more poverty than any other advanced democracy. If America’s poor founded a country, that country would have a bigger population than Australia or Venezuela." - Matthew Desmond ; Poverty, by America (p. 6).
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. - Gospel of Matthew ; Matthew 11.5
“We must honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society,” he said. The task before us is to communicate and lament “with a divine dissatisfaction.” - Stephen Pavey, We Cry Justice, p. 56-57 ; Martin Luther King, Jr.
"In our own day, the prophet Callie Greer, who lives in Selma, Alabama, and organizes with the Poor People’s Campaign, tells the nation, “You must let me wail.” In February 2020, she testified to her pain and oppression at a public gathering in Selma: years earlier, her daughter had died in her arms due to poverty and lack of health care. Callie cried out, “You must let me wail for the children I’ve lost to poverty and will never get back, wail for all the children we mothers have lost. I won’t waste my pain. I hope I make you feel uncomfortable. I hope I make you feel angry. I’m wailing because my babies are no more.”" - Stephen Pavey ; We Cry Justice, p. 56
“I choose to identify with the underprivileged. I choose to identify with the poor. I choose to give my life for the hungry. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity. I choose to live for and with those who find themselves seeing life as a long and desolate corridor with no exit sign. This is the way I’m going. If it means suffering a little bit, I’m going that way. If it means sacrificing, I’m going that way. If it means dying for them, I’m going that way, because I heard a voice saying, ‘Do something for others.’” - Quoted by Erica N. Williams, p. 49 ; Martin Luther King, Jr.
"This is a shining example of what it is to care for one another. We provide everyone we encounter with what they need in order to live, and we do this in opposition to oppression." - Claire Chadwick ; We Cry Justice, p. 34
"In the particular passage of Deuteronomy 24, the reader learns that parts of the harvest should be kept aside in order to care for those who need it. The harvest is not just for those who reap it, for those who sow it, or for those who can afford it. The harvest is for all people: those living in the community and those who visit." - Claire Chadwick ; We Cry Justice, p. 34
"There is enough here. Share it. Take only what you need, and care for one another." - Daniel Jones ; We Cry Justice (p. 23)
"Interpretations of Matthew 25:31–46 that diminish Jesus’s ministry to that of charity miss the gospel message and actually help to maintain inequality. But when we understand that the Roman Empire considered Jesus to be expendable—much the same way the United States considers poor and low-income people, nearly half of the population, to be expendable—we see that being a follower of Jesus means something deeper than charity. Being Christlike means joining a movement, led by the poor and dispossessed, to lift the load of poverty." - Jessica C. Williams ; We Cry Justice (p. 19)
“'Jesus was a poor man' is a theological statement . . . He is saying that the social class of expendables are his people. The homeless, the poor, the incarcerated are Jesus’s friends, family, disciples, and followers, and Jesus himself." - Jessica C. Williams ; We Cry Justice (p. 18)
"Matthew 25 is not a passage about charity. It’s about structuring society around providing for the needs of all people, and it’s about the leadership of the poor to create such change." - Jessica C. Williams ; We Cry Justice (p. 18)
"Don’t laugh, folks: Jesus was a poor man." - Quoted by Jessica C. Williams in We Cry Justice (p. 17) ; Phrase written on a canvas covering on the Mule Train of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign
"Any message that is not related to the liberation of the poor in a society is not Christ’s message." - James H. Cone ; A Black Liberation of Theology
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” - Luke ; Luke 16:13
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." - ; Matthew 6:24