Best Kiyoshi Kuromiya Quotes
Kiyoshi Kuromiya was a Japanese-American author, civil rights activist, anti-war activist, gay liberation activist, and HIV/AIDS activist. Here are some of his quotes that still resonate today:
- “I am a survivor, not a victim.”
- “We are all prisoners of our past, and our future is determined by our past.”
- “The only way to change the world is to be actively engaged in it.”
- “Our lives begin to end the day we get silent about the things that matter.”
- “It is better to die for a cause than to live a life of lies.”
- “Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves.”
- “When I grew up, this was not a place or time to be open about anything that was not mainstream.”
- “To me, activism is a form of spirituality. It’s about doing what you can to make the world a better place.”
- “The first step in the transformation of a society is the transformation of the individual.”
- “Hope is a moral obligation, not a feeling.”
- “The only way to deal with fear is to confront it head-on.”
- “I believe every human has the right to healthcare, regardless of their background.”
- “Stigma is one of the biggest barriers to ending the HIV epidemic.”
- “Let us fight the social stigma with education and compassion.”
- “Always remember that people living with HIV are not just statistics.”
- “I was told that I was a criminal without knowing it. And it instilled this level of shame in me, so from that point on, I think there was always this aspect of misbehaving or maybe even living on the wild side or being on the wrong side of the law.”
- “We wanted the press to concentrate on the fact that we can look and act like everybody else, despite having different beliefs. We believed that we could all come together for a common goal.”
- “I don’t think many people are in touch with their true nature. If more people would get in touch with who they really are, they’d embark on the journey of a lifetime.”
- “There were eight people in my extended family who were third generation. And three out of the eight are gay that I know of.”
- “When I was arrested in this park, I was put in juvenile hall for three days. They said, “Well gee, we’ve never seen a Japanese American here.”
- “I guess I was a bit unhappy about the idea that I had to seek a social life in a bar.”
- “It was tough growing up Japanese and having rocks thrown at you on your way to grade school, that kind of thing. I think facing that adversity early on made me into who I am today.”
- “I don’t think there’s any such thing as a mistake. It’s just a learning experience.”
- “I think that the most important thing is to be true to yourself and to be honest with yourself. And I think that if you can do that, then you can be honest with other people. And I think that’s what it’s all about. It’s about being honest with yourself and with other people.”
