--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The fact is that in my prep school, I…" description: "\"The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years later, a quarter of us were i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/bill-ayers-1848_black_the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-wen_129313.png" --- # The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding… ![“The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years later, a quarter of us were in SDS, in Students for Democratic Society. Not because we were particularly chosen or because we were as I say, we were lucky but we were mainly…” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/bill-ayers-1848_black_the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-wen_129313.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/bill-ayers-1848_black_the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-wen_129313.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/bill-ayers-1848_black_the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-wen_129313.png) > “The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years later, a quarter of us were in SDS, in Students for Democratic Society. Not because we were particularly chosen or because we were as I say, we were lucky but we were mainly luckily to grow up at a time where this black freedom movement was really defining the moral character of what it meant to be a citizen and a person.” [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A generation’s shared historical moment can shape political activism, even without deliberate selection. **In simple terms:** Historical context drives collective activism. Key Takeaway Context influences activism. Themes history activism generational influence Mood thoughtful critical Type reflective political When to use this quote - college years - political protests - social change Key Concepts political science social movements Practical Applications - Recognize the impact of era on values Questions to Reflect On - How does your era shape your beliefs? - Can you act differently from your peers? A Different Perspective Individual agency also matters beyond era. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Democratic society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic-society/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Lucky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lucky/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-character/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Young men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-men/) ## Related quotes > [It's not Lyndon Johnson who makes the black freedom movement; it's the black freedom movement who makes Lyndon Johnson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-s-not-lyndon-johnson-who-makes-the-black-freedom-movement-it-s-the/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [This 1965. We went to trial on our city. We were obviously borrowing tactics and strategy from the Black freedom movement, and we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/this-1965-we-went-to-trial-on-our-city-we-were-obviously-borrowing/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Before BLM, there was a dormancy in our black freedom movement. Obviously many of us were doing work, but we've been able to reignite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrisse-cullors/before-blm-there-was-a-dormancy-in-our-black-freedom-movement/) [Patrisse Cullors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrisse-cullors/) > [That's where we all kind of were in the mid-1960s. Students for a Democratic Society grew from a small group of socialists at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/that-s-where-we-all-kind-of-were-in-the-mid-1960s-students-for-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Students for a Democratic Society was founded in 1961.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/students-for-a-democratic-society-was-founded-in-1961/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Students for a Democratic Society was also affiliated with the civil rights movement everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/students-for-a-democratic-society-was-also-affiliated-with-the-civil/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [It transmitted because on the campuses, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was recruiting, was organizing. Students for a Democratic Society was founded at Michigan just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-transmitted-because-on-the-campuses-student-nonviolent/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Students for a Democratic Society\] it's a social democratic program. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/students-for-a-democratic-society-it-s-a-social-democratic-program/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Students for a Democratic Society\] was on many campuses and it was a powerful organization. It was founded by Tom Hayden, who passed away… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/students-for-a-democratic-society-was-on-many-campuses-and-it-was-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The end of Students for a Democratic Society is viewed by me and a lot of other people as a terrible sorry in many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-end-of-students-for-a-democratic-society-is-viewed-by-me-and-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was from my little perch in a prep school I saw the civil rights movement and it was defining the moral dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-from-my-little-perch-in-a-prep-school-i-saw-the-civil-rights/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Living in a bubble as I said in a featherbed of privilege. That's why leaving home, leaving the prep school and going to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/living-in-a-bubble-as-i-said-in-a-featherbed-of-privilege-that-s-why/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I have a recurring daymare that when the Glorious People's SWAT Teams smash their way in, most of us - by which I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-have-a-recurring-daymare-that-when-the-glorious-people-s-swat-teams/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I love the freedom of movement that my phone gives me. That has definitely transformed my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-love-the-freedom-of-movement-that-my-phone-gives-me-that-has/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) ## More by Bill Ayers > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-haven-t-been-silent-i-teach-i-lecture-at-universities-i-write-i-m/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was involved in the anti-war movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-involved-in-the-anti-war-movement/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'm wary of government. Part of \[the Tea Party\] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-party-impulse-is-to-dislike/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years \[from 1965 till 1968\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d-been-an-organizer-so-many/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You cannot live a political life, you cannot live a moral life if you're not willing to open your eyes and see the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/you-cannot-live-a-political-life-you-cannot-live-a-moral-life-if-you/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was a good liberal in some sense at that point. I wanted to end a war. I wanted to support the civil rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-a-good-liberal-in-some-sense-at-that-point-i-wanted-to-end-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for me and great time of awakening. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The truth is that the antiwar movement was powered by the working class. The students were the ones that got the media and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-truth-is-that-the-antiwar-movement-was-powered-by-the-working/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were - "a real threat," you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/there-was-one-moment-when-j-edgar-hoover-and-us-had-the-same/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Every politician - FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama - they're all conservative by nature. They are part of the big thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/every-politician-fdr-lyndon-johnson-abraham-lincoln-barack-obama-they/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [It transmitted because on the campuses, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was recruiting, was organizing. Students for a Democratic Society was founded at Michigan just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-transmitted-because-on-the-campuses-student-nonviolent/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Black music has always known, and not been afraid to acknowledge just how high the stakes of Black thought are. To summarize the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-b-wilderson-iii/black-music-has-always-known-and-not-been-afraid-to-acknowledge-just/) Frank B. Wilderson III > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) Browse all 11,655 Black quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years later, a quarter of us were in SDS, in Students for Democratic Society. 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