A Quote by Keith Ellison

I didn't pay close enough scrutiny to some of the other things that Louis Farrakhan was saying, that's something I just live and learn. — © Keith Ellison
I didn't pay close enough scrutiny to some of the other things that Louis Farrakhan was saying, that's something I just live and learn.
I was very proud to be part of the Million Man March. I think it's one of the best things that I ever did. Just the fact that, you know, at the time I didn't pay close enough scrutiny to some of the other things that he was saying. You know, that's something I just live and learn.
We used to write this down by saying, 'move fast and break things.' And the idea was, unless you are breaking some stuff you are not moving fast enough. I think there's probably something in that for other entrepreneurs to learn which is that making mistakes is okay. At the end of the day, the goal of building something is to build something, not to not make mistakes.
Through a lot of conversations with the Minister [Louis Farrakhan] you've got to know when to say something. But if you are forever going to be afraid to say anything, then you become irrelevant - as a force. I mean, so the God-given gift that you got, you're not a relevant player in the game - you're just a dude whose got money, got a big house and some cars.
Part of the popularity with Louis Farrakhan has less to do with the content of his message and more to do with the form that he portrays himself - as being a free black person who speaks what is on his mind with boldness and fearlessness. Who is willing to pay the consequences.
Part of the popularity with Louis Farrakhan has less to do with the content of his message and more to do with the form that he portrays himself - as being a free, black person who speaks what is on his mind with boldness and fearlessness. Who is willing to pay the consequences.
I talked to Minister [Louis] Farrakhan many times about this subject - there is our reality that we have to deal with on an ongoing basis because we have to exist in order for certain things to get done.
We're looking at a story we want to call "Am I Black enough for you?" That's that whole question of who determines what "Black enough" is. Is it color? And if it's color, then are you telling me that Clarence Thomas is Blacker than Louis Farrakhan? If it's not color then what's the line that determines whether you are?
My grandma has a picture of Louis Farrakhan playing violin in her house.
When you learn to read and write, it opens up opportunities for you to learn so many other things. When you learn to read, you can then read to learn. And it's the same thing with coding. If you learn to code, you can code to learn. Now some of the things you can learn are sort of obvious. You learn more about how computers work.
In order for a musician to grow, he's got to pay his dues. Some musicians ask me, 'well, what do you mean? You're saying I have to 'starve' and pay all these dues just to play jazz?' And my answer to them is, well, to some degree, yes! Because in order to play jazz you have to live it. Those notes mean something. They don't just come from your brain, they come from your heart and soul too. And in order to have that heart and soul you have to experience life. So I relate my music to my life and my life style. You can't separate the two.
It is not enough merely to exist. It's not enough to say, "I'm earning enough to support my family. I do my work well. I'm a good father, husband, churchgoer." That's all very well. But you must do something more. Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. Even if it's a little thing, do something for those who need help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it. For remember, you don't live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too.
Working at the scene of the action, I have adopted Robert Capa's saying: 'If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough.' But in retrospect I add a corollary: if you're too close to events, you lose perspective.
I know how to create and make people feel something. Honestly, if I didn't do this, I would just have some minimum-wage job in New Mexico, and I would go out on the weekends and make just enough money to pay my insurance and pay for a couple beers, and that would be it.
I ignore [Barack Obama] like I ignore [Louis ] Farrakhan.
Having serious consequences to your decision-making process is something you have to be very comfortable with. It's something you learn and you practise over time, so I encourage people to find some way to challenge themselves. The other thing I share with people, which I've learned over time, is self-confidence. You have to get very comfortable with saying, "Well, every day, I'm just going to give my best. I have skill sets I've learned, I'm going to employ them, and my best is going to be good enough".
In America, we have to learn to be patient enough to figure out what somebody is saying. Somebody might actually be saying something.
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