You can't give up. Sometimes you get knocked down, but you have to get back up, fighting. You have to think about the others who come behind you as well. And you have to think of the example that you set for others.
The traditional farm, the peanuts, the cotton, the corn, is probably not the thing to do, because you're up against big farmers who can afford all the equipment to grow those kinds of crops. But we need healthy food. We're being encouraged to eat more vegetables. Our school systems are being encouraged to buy locally. So, we need farmers who can produce that food.
I love helping other people. When I made a commitment to stay in the South, to work for change, it meant devoting my life to working for and helping others. I feel good when I know that I've saved someone's farm, or helped a family to get a home or access to credit. Or when I can get young people to see that there's more to life than just trying to make the biggest dollar for yourself.
I wish that somehow, some way we could learn to live together in this country.
You have to approach people with the truth and with love, and with what's right. I was determined to get the truth out because I knew that the truth would set me free.
I am just a pawn. I was just here. They are after a bigger thing, they would love to take us back to where we were many years ago. Back to where black people were looking down, not looking white folks in the face, not being able to compete for a job out there and not be a whole person.
We have landowners, small growers. We have people who are holding onto land that was acquired by their families after slavery. They need to produce some of the food we eat, so they can pay the taxes and hold onto the property. Taxes keep going up. We, and by we I mean black people, are rapidly becoming a landless people. Our ancestors, coming out of slavery, acquired more than 15 million acres of land. Today, we're probably down to less than 2 million acres.
Given the way the system was, what could I do as I one person, other than devote my life to fighting to make it different? If I had allowed myself to be filled with hate, I probably wouldn't even be alive, because that hate could've killed me. That hate would've blinded me to my contributions in terms of how I could make a difference. You can't think straight when you're consumed by hate and focused on destroying someone else. Instead, I was bent on trying to destroy a system that was not fair to all of us, and I continue to do that.
If you're in government service for the money, then you'll do what you have to do to survive. But if you're in it to do the right thing, then it might mean that you won't get to stay there, but at least you can say, "I did what was right while I was there."
The news of Mr. Breitbart’s death came as a surprise to me when I was informed of it this morning. My prayers go out to Mr. Breitbart’s family as they cope during this very difficult time.
I grew up on a farm and, prior to my father's murder, I wanted to get away from the farm, and away from South Georgia where the Jim Crow laws absolutely controlled anything and everything we did. So, my goal was to leave once I completed high school. But on the night of my father's murder, I made a commitment that I would not leave the South, that I would stay and devote my life to working for change. So, my father's murder has shaped the course of my life even up to this very day.
Dr. King has long been my hero. I didn't get to work with him much, but my husband did in the early years. Dr. King gave his life, really, to the struggle for everyone. And he believed in non-violence. That's what I've tried to do in terms of my life and my work, following the teachings of God.
I want the world to know that Shirley Sherrod is someone who is committed to helping others. I love people, and I love doing things that make a difference.
When I look in the mirror I see someone who's aging now, and someone who kept a commitment made many, many years ago, and who today is trying to be an example for young women.
I've remained a supporter of the Obama administration, even at the height of my ordeal. There's a lot that he could do differently, but so much of what he's tried to do has been blocked by the Republican officeholders. I think that he could have been a much better president with more support. So, I'm still supportive of him.
