Black History Month Quotes - Page 2

• The potential for greatness lives within us all.

  Wilma Rudolph

  Inspirational Sports, Athlete, Greatness

  "50 stunning Olympic moments No35: Wilma Rudolph's triple gold in 1960" by Rob Bagchi, www.theguardian.com. June 1, 2012.

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• I am the dream and the hope of the slave

  Maya Angelou

  Dream, History, African American

  Maya Angelou (2011). “Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women”, p.9, Random House

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  I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.

  Michael Jordan

  Inspirational, Motivational, Change

  "I Can't Accept Not Trying : Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence". Book by Michael Jordan (p. 129), 1994.

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• One ever feels his twoness - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

  W. E. B. Du Bois

  Dark, Two, Black History

  "Strivings of the Negro People" (1897)

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• 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

  Peace, Responsibility, Racism

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• The time is always right to do what is right.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Positive, Inspiring

  "This Dallas Boy's MLK Jr. Speech Is Such A Sweet Message For Today's World" by Sarah Friedmann, www.bustle.com. January 2018.

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• I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person.

  Harriet Tubman

  Hands, Black History, African American

  "Harriet, The Moses of Her People". Book by Sarah H. Bradford, 1886.

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• What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.

  Carter G. Woodson

  Religious, Hate, Race

  Carter G. Woodson (2008). “Negro Makers of History”, p.20, Wildside Press LLC

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  You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.

  Billie Holiday

  Hair, White, Black History

  Lady Sings the Blues ch. 11 (1956).

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• For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.

  Maya Angelou

  Inspirational, Truth, Men

  1972 On Africa. In the New York Times,16 Apr.

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• The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.

  W. E. B. Du Bois

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Memorial Day

  John Brown ch. 13 (1909)

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• Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.

  Carol Moseley Braun

  Inspiring, Being Yourself, Freedom

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  Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Motivational, Change

  Atlanta Magazine, April 2008.

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• Unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Kings, Truth

  Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 10 Dec. 1964

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• Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.

  Arthur Ashe

  Racism, Black History, African American

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• Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.

  Barbara Jordan

  Inspirational, Freedom, Memorable

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• For I am my mother's daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart.

  Mary McLeod Bethune

  Inspirational, Mother, Daughter

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• You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.

  Frederick Douglass

  Men, Black History, African American

  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass ch. 10 (1845)

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• We are the ones we've been waiting for.

  June Jordan

  Change, Life Changing, Yes We Can

  June Jordan, “Poem For South African Women”

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• Hate is too great a burden to bear.

  Coretta Scott King

  Hater, Famous Love, Inspirational Love

  "Understanding Cultural Diversity in Today's Complex World‎" by Leo Parvis, (p. 54), 2006.

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• Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Education, Book, Reading

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• Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Success, Dream, Xenophobia

  Twitter post from Aug 14, 2011

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• I refuse to accept the view . . . that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Kings, Unconditional Love

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.116, Beacon Press

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  Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.

  Langston Hughes

  Love, Inspirational, Change

  "Dreams" l. 1 (1929)

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• 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

  Inspirational, Country, Father

  Testimony before House Un-American Activities Committee, 12 June 1956

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