African American History Month Quotes

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

  Mae Jemison

  Inspiring, People, Imagination

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

  George Washington Carver

  Inspirational, Leadership, Hope

  329 Copy quote

• 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 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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• 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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• 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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• 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

  Cocky, Greatness, Names

  Muhammad Ali (2016). “Muhammad Ali Unfiltered: Rare, Iconic, and Officially Authorized Photos of the Greatest”, p.88, Simon and Schuster

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• we are the ones we have been waiting for

  Alice Walker

  Change, Confidence, Life Changing

  Alice Walker (2013). “The World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker”, p.342, The New Press

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  Every great dream begins with a dreamer.

  Harriet Tubman

  Inspiring, Dream, Passion

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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

  79 Copy quote

• 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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• 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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• 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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  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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• Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Kings, Hate, Light

  "A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings".

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  Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.

  Coretta Scott King

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Forgiveness

  "Understanding Cultural Diversity in Today's Complex World". Book by Leo Parvis, p. 54, 2010.

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  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.67, Beacon Press

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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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  Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

  Barack Obama

  Inspirational, Motivational, Change

  Barack Obama (2008). “An American Story: The Speeches of Barack Obama : a Primer”, Independent Publishing Group

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  The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at.

  Jesse Owens

  Inspirational, Motivational, Running

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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  I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

  Rosa Parks

  Inspirational, Positive, Inspiring

  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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