Carola Rackete Quotes

Some claim I "profit" personally from volunteering for sea rescue. Here's how I profit: By knowing that stepping up for the human rights of others I am ultimately defending everybody's rights - incl my own. No one is free until we are all free. #BlackLifesMatter

There are people who seriously think sea rescue activists like me rescue Black lives because we hate white people. Some white people feel personally threatened by the fact that human rights apply to everyone equally. White priviledge needs to end if we want justice, ever.

It's our *white* responsibility to make sure people who speak out about racism are safe at all times. This means ending structural racism in our societies, authorities and media.

It's absolutely correct that climate and environmental movements should focus on systemic change and not on bamboo toothbrushes. It's mainly governments who control energy infrastructure. And yes governments should support community-owned energy initiatives.

I worked in polar science support for years but only when I studied nature conservation did I understand the scale of ecological descruction the growth based economic system is causing and that there is no way to save frogs nor people within a system that causes social injustice.

80% of terrestrial species are found on the lands stewarded by Indigenous people and local communities. Therefore - to protect biodiversity - protect IPLC land rights and keep polluting and extractive industries away.

I felt that we had to be not only to rescue at sea, but also as a sign of resistance to the structural racism of Europeans Authorities. This is as much a problem in the EU as in the USA... The whole concept of this agency is to enforce the racist border policy of the European states... a deeply problematic narrative...[that deprives] the rescued of the limelight... It is not necessary for a white woman to take the stage as the supposed 'voice of the voiceless'.

I have decided to enter the port of Lampedusa. I know what I'm risking, but the 42 rescued people are exhausted. I'm taking them to safety now ... I feel a moral obligation'... Their lives come before any political game... I have white skin, I was born in a rich country, I have the right passport, I was allowed to attend three universities, and I graduated at the age of 23... I feel a moral obligation to help those people who did not have the foundations that I did.