African American History Month Quotes

• I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.

  Morgan Freeman

  Black History, Months, Black Racism

  "Roundtable: NSA, Freeman on Black History Month". "Roundtable" with Farai Chideya, www.npr.org. December 19, 2005.

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• Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations.

  Mae Jemison

  Inspiring, People, Imagination

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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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  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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• I was raised to believe that excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism. And that's how I operate my life.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

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• I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.

  Booker T. Washington

  Inspirational, Life, Success

  Booker T. Washington (1901). “An Autobiography: The Story of My Life and Work, the Original Brought Up-to-date with Over Half a Hundred Full Page Photo and Halftone Engravings and Drawings by Frank Beard”

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• 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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• Where there is no vision, there is no hope.

  George Washington Carver

  Inspirational, Leadership, Hope

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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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• 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

  Inspirational, Dream, Hope

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

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  Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

  Wilma Rudolph

  Inspirational, Motivational, Running

  "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 felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in 'We, the people.'

  Barbara Jordan

  Mistake, Years, People

  Statement on the Articles of Impeachment, delivered 25 July 1974, House Judiciary Committee

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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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• 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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• Knowing what must be done does away with fear.

  Rosa Parks

  Inspiring, Strong Women, Fear

  Rosa Parks, Gregory J. Reed (1994). “Quiet Strength: The Faith, the Hope, and the Heart of a Woman who Changed a Nation”, Zondervan

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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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• No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.

  Booker T. Washington

  Inspirational, Work, Writing

  Address at Atlanta International Exposition, Atlanta, Ga., 18 Sept. 1895

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• In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.

  Toni Morrison

  Inspirational, Country, Mean

  The Guardian, January 29, 1992.

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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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• Black people have always been America's wilderness in search of a promised land.

  Cornel West

  Inspirational, America, Land

  Cornel West (2000). “Race Matters”, p.16, Beacon Press

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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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