Quote by Armando Valladares: “Dignity is not negotiable. It is the last refuge of the oppressed.”

This quote highlights the fundamental importance of human dignity, particularly for those suffering oppression. It asserts that dignity is an inherent right that cannot be compromised or traded, serving as a vital source of strength and resistance when all other freedoms are stripped away.

From his time as a political prisoner, Valladares knew that even when physically broken, maintaining one's dignity was a potent form of defiance against a system designed to dehumanize and break the spirit.

Cuban poet and political prisoner who spent twenty-two years in Cuban jails after refusing to display a sign endorsing the Revolution. His memoir Against All Hope, published in 1985, documented the conditions of Cuban political imprisonment and became an international human rights document.