I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history. — Morgan Freeman
The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience. — Henry Louis Gates
Ancient Egypt was a Negro Civilization. The history of Black Africa will remain suspended in air and cannot be written correctly until African historians dare to connect it with the history of Egypt. — Cheikh Anta Diop
The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man's right to his body, or woman's right to her soul. — Emma Goldman
The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness. — Marcus Garvey
You must begin to define yourself. You must begin to define your Black heritage. — H. Rap Brown
America's greatest crime against the black man was not slavery or lynching, but that he was taught to wear a mask of self-hate and self-doubt. — Malcolm X
Be as proud of your race today as our as our fathers were in days of yore. We have beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world. — Marcus Garvey
The Black family of the future will foster our liberation, enhance our self-esteem, and shape our ideas and goals. — Dorothy Height
It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are. — Spike Lee
American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it. — James Baldwin
Black men of Carthage, Ethiopia, of Timbuktu and Alexandria gave the likes of civilization to this world — Marcus Garvey
from the slave ship to the citizenship we faced a lot of bullship — Amiri Baraka
And thus goes segregation which is the most far-reaching development in the history of the Negro since the enslavement of the race. — Carter G. Woodson
Herein lies the tragedy of the age: Not that men are poor, - all men know something of poverty. Not that men are wicked, - who is good? Not that men are ignorant, - what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men. — W. E. B. Du Bois
Life is like a piano, the white keys represent happiness and the black shows sadness, but as you go through life's journey, remember that the black keys also makes music.
In my writing, as much as I could, I tried to find the good, and praise it. — Alex Haley
A good many people voted for [Barack] Obama, and I'm not only talking about the black vote. A lot of people voted for Obama because of our history of racial discrimination in this country. — Nat Hentoff
First black president ever, and to be living while it happened - that's a good part of history. That's probably the biggest person I admire right now. — Meek Mill
Woman Black History Quotes
I speak for the colored women of the South, because it is there that the millions of blacks in this country have watered the soil with blood and tears, and it is there too that the colored woman of America has made her characteristic history and there her destiny is evolving. — Anna Julia Cooper
I am a product of every other black woman before me who has done or said anything worthwhile. Recognizing that I am part of history is what allows me to soar. — Oprah Winfrey
If you are a black woman, you get two history months in a row. — Artie Lange
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why we call it present.
I'm tired of the naked, raped, beaten black woman body. I want to see an image of black femaleness that alters our universe in some way. — Bell Hooks
Black History Month Quotes
you must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. — Rosa Parks
If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves. We should, therefore, protest openly everything ... that smacks of discrimination or slander. — Mary Mcleod Bethune
Revolution is a serious thing, the most serious thing about a revolutionarys life. When one commits oneself to the struggle, it must be for a lifetime. — Angela Davis
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. — Harriet Tubman
The United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down. — Thurgood Marshall
Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations. — Mae Jemison
How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it! — Morgan Freeman
There is no negro problem. The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough, honor enough, patriotism enough, to live up to their own constitution — Frederick Douglass
My father was a slave and my people died to build this country and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you. — Paul Robeson
The potential for greatness lives within us all. — Wilma Rudolph
Black History Inspirational Quotes
Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced. — James A. Baldwin
You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day. — Marian Wright Edelman
Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face. — Carol Moseley Braun
Yesterday is a history; Tomorrow a mystery; Today is a gift; That's why we call it the present
We are the ones we've been waiting for. — June Jordan
we are the ones we have been waiting for — Alice Walker
I am the dream and the hope of the slave — Maya Angelou
Escape from the black cloud that surrounds you. Then you will see your own light as radiant as the full moon.
I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up. — Rosa Parks
Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us. — Susan L. Taylor
For I am my mother's daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart. — Mary Mcleod Bethune
I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. — Harriet Tubman
Black History Month Inspirational Quotes
I pay homage and respect to Bobby Womack [for Black History Month] knowing that he passed last year... Him being one of those artists that I have really sampled so much and just been so inspired by... You know, he is the original ‘soul man.’ — Big K.R.I.T.
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise. — Maya Angelou
You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man. — Frederick Douglass
Don’t let your history interfere with your destiny.
Black people have always been America's wilderness in search of a promised land. — Cornel West
In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. — Booker T. Washington
Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can. — Arthur Ashe
Those who tell the stories rule society.
American means white, and Africanist people struggle to make the term applicable to themselves with ethnicity and hyphen after hyphen after hyphen. — Toni Morrison
I refuse to accept the view . . . that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have observed this in my experience of slavery, that whenever my condition was improved, instead of increasing my contentment; it only increased my desire to be free, and set me thinking of plans to gain my freedom. — Frederick Douglass
African American History Quotes
We have a wonderful history behind us. ... If you are unable to demonstrate to the world that you have this record, the world will say to you, 'You are not worthy to enjoy the blessings of democracy or anything else'. — Carter G. Woodson
At no time within the last five-hundred years can one point to a single instance of the Negro as a race of haters. — Marcus Garvey
Whereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel ourselves entitled to participate in the blessings of her luxuriant soil. — Richard Allen
Live out of your imagination, not your history.
Look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Knowing what must be done does away with fear. — Rosa Parks
History is the land-mark by which we are directed into the true course of life. — Marcus Garvey
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift.
What comes forth from you as an artist cannot be controlled. But you have responsibilities as a global citizen. Your history dictates your duty. And by writing about black people, you are not limiting yourself. The experiences of African-Americans are as wide open as God's closet. — August Wilson
There's no doubt that many of the mainstream white institutions tend to be cosmetic and symbolic when it comes to including African-Americans, whereas we black folk tend to be much more sensitive about embracing others, and we have a long history of that. — Cornel West
In the closing years of the nineteenth century, African-American historians began to look at their people's history from their vantage point and their point of view. — John Henrik Clarke
You face the biggest challenge of all: to have the courage to seek your big dream regardless of what anyone says. You are the only person alive who can see your big picture and even you can't see it all. — Oprah Winfrey
Black Culture Quotes
If white privilege is a thing, why are people working so hard to be black? All of the award shows and cultural events favor black culture. — Milo Yiannopoulos
Violence is black children going to school for 12 years and receiving 6 years' worth of education. — Julian Bond
I say violence is necessary. Violence is a part of America's culture. It is as American as cherry pie. Americans taught the black people to be violent. We will use that violence to rid ourselves of oppression if necessary. We will be free, by any means necessary. — H. Rap Brown
The theory that religion is a force for peace, does not fits the facts of it's history.
How you act, walk, look and talk is all part of Hip Hop culture. And the music is colorless. Hip Hop music is made from Black, brown, yellow, red and white. — Afrika Bambaataa
I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me. — Muhammad Ali
I do not feel inhibited or bound by what I am. That does not mean that I have never had bad scenes relating to being Black and/or a woman, it means that other people’s craziness has not managed to make me crazy. — Lucille Clifton
We're just trying to find some color in this black and white world
The equilibrium you admire in me is an unstable one, difficult to maintain. My inner life was split early between the call of the Ancestors and the call of Europe, between the exigencies of black-African culture and those of modern life. — Leopold Sedar Senghor
We have to realize our black heritage in order to give us strength to move on and progress. But as far as returning to the old African culture, it's unnecessary and it's not advantageous in many respects. We believe that culture itself will not liberate us. We're going to need some stronger stuff. — Huey Newton
Teach the student what needs to be taught.
'Cause black and white kids both take shorts
When one doesn't know about the other one's culture,
Ignorance swoops down like a vulture. — KRS-One
There's one more thing I want to say. It's a touchy subject. Black beauty. Black sensuality. We live in a culture where the beauty of black people isn't always as celebrated as other types. I'd like to help change that if I can! — Jody Watley
Black America Quotes
The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman. — Malcolm X
America will tolerate the taking of a human life without giving it a second thought. But don't misuse a household pet. — Dick Gregory
A people who have suffered so much for so long at hands of a racist society must draw the line somewhere.... the black communities of America must rise up as one man to halt the progression of a trend that leads inevitably to their total destruction. — Bobby Seale
Don't let your history interfere with your destiny.
Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm, look for me all around you, for, with God's grace, I shall come and bring with me countless millions of black slaves who have died in America and
the West Indies and the millions in Africa to aid you in the fight for Liberty, Freedom and Life. — Marcus Garvey
Discrimination is discrimination no matter who the victim is, and it is always wrong. There are no special rights in America, despite the attempts by many to divide blacks and the gay community with the argument that the latter are seeking some imaginary special rights at the expense of blacks. — Julian Bond
Jazz is the favorite music [of America]. It is a type of music invented by [American] Blacks to please their primitive tendencies and desire for noise. — Sayyid Qutb
America is White and Black and Latino and Asian. America is mixed. America is immigrants. — Jose Antonio Vargas
All I did in Chicago was to exercise my legal right to speak on my own behalf and I was given four years in jail as a result. But I think the most serious injustice perpetrated by the court system in America is the inability of a black man to get a jury of his peers. — Bobby Seale
Now look at the crowd. We’ve got everybody here tonight: Black, white, Asian, Latinos—and guess what? President Obama says we can all stay! God Bless America! — Pitbull
Black power is organizing the rage of Black people and putting new hard questions and demands to white America. — Charles Hamilton Houston
Black Community Quotes
The racist dog policemen must withdraw immediately from our communities, cease their wanton murder and brutality and torture of black people, or face the wrath of the armed people. — Huey Newton
Gays are beginning to realize what blacks learned long ago: Unless you are out here fighting for yourself then nobody else will help you. I think the gay community has a moral obligation to continue the fight. — Bayard Rustin
The empowerment of black women constitutes the empowerment of our entire community. — Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
The fate of millions of people—indeed the future of the black community itself—may depend on the willingness of those who care about racial justice to re-examine their basic assumptions about the role of the criminal justice system in our society. — Michelle Alexander
We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond. — Gwendolyn Brooks
Republicans think that the NAACP is the only voice in the black community. It is a voice in the black community. But it's not the only voice. — J. C. Watts
The political philosophy of black nationalism means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community; no more. — Malcolm X
Blackness is a state of mind and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white women. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community. — Halle Berry
Any community seriously concerned with its own freedom has to be concerned about other people's freedom as well. The victory of oppressed people anywhere in the world is a victory for Black people. Each time one of imperialism's tentacles is cut off we are closer to liberation. — Assata Shakur
An organization which claims to be working for the needs of a community - as SNCC does - must work to provide that community with a position of strength from which to make its voice heard. This is the significance of black power beyond the slogan — Stokely Carmichael
A wise man can play the part of a clown, but a clown can't play the part of a wise man. — Malcolm X
The world is a severe schoolmaster, for its frowns are less dangerous than its smiles and flatteries, and it is a difficult task to keep in the path of wisdom. — Phillis Wheatley
I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or rat in a trap. I had already determined to sell my life as dearly as possible if attacked. I felt if I could take one lyncher with me, this would even up the score a little bit. — Ida B. Wells
It cannot be denied that too often the weight of the Christian movement has been on the side of the strong and the powerful and against the weak and oppressed-this, despite the gospel. — Howard Thurman
White America has seen to it that Black history has been suppressed in schools and in American history books. The bravery of hundreds of our ancestors who took part in slave rebellions has been lost in the mists of time, since plantation owners did their best to prevent any written accounts of uprisings. — Huey Newton
You know, I've never believed, in anything, that you had to have role models who looked like you to do something. If I'd been waiting for a black, female, soviet specialist role model, I'd be still waiting. — Condoleezza Rice
Africans and persons of African descent must assume the primary responsibility and leadership in historical research....if we are to continue to leave practically all important historical research and writing concerning the black race to the white man, then we must be prepared to accept, uncomplainingly, the white man's point of view. — Chancellor Williams
The impatient idealist says: 'Give me a place to stand and I shall move the earth.' But such a place does not exist. We all have to stand on the earth itself and go with her at her pace. — Chinua Achebe
Greatness occurs when your children love you, when your critics respect you and when you have peace of mind. — Quincy Jones
In the history of the treatment of depression, there was the dunking stool, purging of the bowels of black bile, hoses, attempts to shock the patient. All of these represent hatred or aggression towards what depression represents in the patient. — James Hillman
Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history, and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such topics. — Michael Eric Dyson
No race has a monopoly on vice or virtue, and the worth of an individual is not related to the color of his skin. — Whitney M. Young
For me going down in history being the first black American to win the gold, I think more colored people are going to start coming to the gymnastics world and say 'okay, anything is possible. If Gabby did it, then I can do it too.' — Gabby Douglas
The revolution is an amalgam of former Party functionaries, quasi- democrats, KGB officers, and black-market wheeler-dealers, who are standing in power now and have represented a dirty hybrid unseen in world history — Sayings
If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, "There lived a great people-a black people-who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
As long as we are not ourselves, we will try to be what other people are. — Malidoma Patrice Some
I wanted to show the history and strength of all kinds of black women. Working women, country women, urban women, great women in the history of the United States. — Elizabeth Catlett
Whilst so much is being done in the world, to ameliorate the condition of mankind, and the spirit of Freedom is marching with rapid strides and causing tyrants to tremble, may America awake from the apathy in which she has long slumbered. — James Forten
In Conclusion
Which quotation resonated with you best? Did you enjoy our collection of black history quotes? Or may be you have a slogan about black history to suggest. Let us know using our contact form.
Citation
Feel free to cite and use any of the quotes in this collection of black history quotations. For popular citation styles(APA, Chicago, MLA), please use this citation page.
