My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work.

I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart.

Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way.

I will always work for human rights for all people.

To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.

We didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down.

Arrest me for sitting on a bus? You may do that.

I was determined to achieve the total freedom that our history lessons.

When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night.

God has always given me the strength to say what is right.

I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.

Each person must live their life as a model for others.

I want to be treated like a human being.

There is no future without education.

Knowing what must be done does away with fear.

Racial pride and self-dignity were emphasized in my family and community.

I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.

I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read. My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child. The first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere from 50 to 60 students of all different ages.

It takes more than one person to bring about peace -- it takes all of us.