101 Quotes by Boots Riley

"The Box would not play 'Takin' These' because we had a scene where we were taking furniture out of Rockefeller's mansion and giving the stuff out on the street for free."

"If what you want is actual change, then what has to be built is a mass movement that is militant and can use direct action to slow or stop profit. A movement that can do that can demand whatever it wants."

"I thought my parents were always having card parties - and they were - but they were actually also having meetings to organize people. My older sister would be part of youth organizing, and she'd have dance parties. People would be dancing and talking about how to improve their neighborhood."

"Any collective action is made up of individuals who one day decided not to sit and watch anymore."

"The truth is, every movie is a message movie. It's just that most movies have messages that are in lock step with the status quo."

"I'm not trying to make a speech on CD because who wants to buy that?"

"When people listen to Jay-Z, they're working all day or trying to work and pay their bills, and what they hear is someone who's free. Who doesn't have to worry about the electricity. But all we're taught is that those who are rich deserve to be rich because they worked harder than the rest of us, or they're smarter."

"No one has a copyright on working-class struggles."

"I have a problem with superheroes in general because, politically, superheroes are cops. Superheroes work with the government to uphold the law. And who do the laws work for?"

"I used to be mad, at first, that I couldn't sound like Ice Cube. And I think that was probably one of the best things for me."