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African-American Quotes – This world has various ethnicities with diverse descendants.
one of them is African-American, or Afro-American, is an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestry is largely from Sub-Saharan and Western Africa.
The majority of African Americans are of African, European, and Native American blood.
According to the 2003 US census, there were 37.1 million black citizens in the US which represents 12.9 percent of the total population.
New York City had the highest urban black population in 2000 with 2 million people which is a testament to the success, motivation, and inspiration they bring to the world.
Many things have been done that inspire us from African-American ethnicity. A lot of scope, changes, and new innovations that are presented in their figures that inspire and motivate.
One of them is through the following African-American quotes as a form of learning that everyone can be successful in their own way.
And whatever your ethnicity is you can be successful with what you are doing today.
Here are 150 African-American quotes that inspire and give lessons from the figures of those who inspire and bring about change.
Read also: 100 Inspirational John Muir Quotes
Inspirational African American Quotes about Life
1. “The validation of your dreams is not in the colour of your skin but in the quality of your heart.” – Kingsley Opuwari Manuel
2. “Ignorance of how we are shaped racially is the first sign of privilege. In other words. It is a privilege to ignore the consequences of race in America.” – Tim Wise
3. “Black power showed up in different ways, depending on the goals of the group.” – Junius Williams
4. “Sometimes you don’t choose greatness, it chooses you. And when it does, it requires a certain level of understandin’, courage and a degree of blind hope.” – Jay Grewal
5. “A woman without no options is waiting for a man to come by an ruin her.” – Angela Flournoy
6. “Faced with a collective forgetting, we must fight to remember.” – Reni Eddo-Lodge
7. “Black history is indeed American history, but it is also world history.” – Angela Y. Davis
8. “What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.” – Barbara Jordan
9. “If origin defines race, then we are all Africans – we are all black.” – Abhijit Naskar
10. “We don’t live in a meritocracy, and to pretend that simple hard work will elevate all to success is an exercise in wilful ignorance.” – Reni Eddo Lodge
11. “The best way to make dreams come true is to wake up.” – Mae C. Jemison
12. “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” – Malcolm X
13. “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”- Martin Luther King Jr.
14. “You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.” – Malcolm X
15. “Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.”- Denzel Washington
16. “Racism isn’t born, folks, it’s taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list.” – Dennis Leary
17. “If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.” – Beyoncé Knowles
18. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
19. “There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.” – Rita Dove
20. “The thing about black history is that the truth is so much more complex than anything you could make up.” – Henry Louis Gates
21. “When I was about eight, I decided that the most wonderful thing, next to a human being, was a book.” – Margaret Walker
22. “There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made.” – Michelle Obama
23. “Each person must live their life as a model for others.” – Rosa Parks
24. “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” – Nelson Mandela
25. “One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter.” – James Earl Jones
26. “The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.” – Eldridge Cleaver
27. “There is no vaccine for racism.” – Kamala Harris
28. “Do we care to match the reality of America to its ideals?” – Barack Obama
29. “We will all, at some point, encounter hurdles to gaining access and entry, moving up and conquering self-doubt; but on the other side is the capacity to own opportunity and tell our own story.” – Stacey Abrams
30. “Friendly reminder that you don’t have to say the ‘n word’ to be racist. That’s not the sole requirement. Asking people to prove racism is another tool the oppressor uses to marginalize and discredit us.” – Lizzo
31. “The very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” – Toni Morrison
32. “The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.” – Ijoema Oluo
33. “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” – Nelson Mandela
34. “Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
35. “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.” – John Lewis
36. “Activism is my rent for living on the planet.” – Alice Walker
37. “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.” – Angela Davis
38. ”We must never forget that Black History is American History. The achievements of African Americans have contributed to our nation’s greatness.” -Yvette Clarke
39. “Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.” – Kwame Nkrumah
40. “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” – Madam C.J. Walker
41. “I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me.” – Harriet Tubman
42. “Make a difference about something other than yourselves.” – Toni Morrison
43. “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” – Arthur Ashe
44. “God’s time [Emancipation]is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens; He gave me the strength in my limbs; He meant I should be free.” – Harriet Tubman
45. “The best way to make dreams come true is to wake up.” – Mae C. Jemison
46. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
47. “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
48. “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
49. “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” – Ida B. Wells
50. “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
51. “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope… and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” – Robert F. Kennedy
52. “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
53. “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” – Frederick Douglass
54. “history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.”- Michelle Obama
55. “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
56. “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
57. “While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou
58. “Don’t let anything stop you. There will be times when you’ll be disappointed, but you can’t stop.” – Sadie T. M. Alexander
59. “We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.” – Jesse Owens
60. ”If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves and allow those responsible to salve their conscience by believing that they have our acceptance and concurrence. We should, therefore, protest openly everything, that smacks of discrimination or slander.” – Mary McLeod Bethune
61. “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
62. ”It’s just like when you’ve got some coffee that’s too black, which means it’s too strong. What do you do? You integrate it with cream, you make it weak. But if you pour too much cream in it, you won’t even know you ever had coffee. It used to be hot, it becomes cool. It used to be strong, it becomes weak. It used to wake you up, now it puts you to sleep.” – Malcolm X
63. “We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers. Our abundance has brought us neither peace of mind nor serenity of spirit.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
64. ”Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
65. “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
66. ”Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.” – Barbara Jordan
67. ”When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything.” – Harriet Tubman
68. ”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 early 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
69. ”I’m not quite sure what freedom is, but i know damn well what it ain’t. How have we gotten so silly, i wonder.” – Assata Shakur
70. ”If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” – Marcus Garvey
71. “Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to striving to realize it.” – Earl G. Graves, Sr.
72. ”For I am my mother’s daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart.” – Mary McLeod Bethune
73. ”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
74. ”Our responsibility as citizens is to address the inequalities and injustices that linger, and we must secure our birthright freedoms for all people. As we mark the 40th year of National African American History Month, let us reflect on the sacrifices and contributions made by generations of African Americans, and let us resolve to continue our march toward a day when every person knows the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” – Barack Obama
75. “We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. 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 Woodson
76. ”We must never forget that Black History is American History. The achievements of African Americans have contributed to our nation’s greatness.” – Yvette Clarke
77. ”One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.” – Franklin Thomas
78. ”If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass
79. “I swear to the Lord I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me.” – Langston Hughes
80. ”Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.” – Carol Moseley Braun
81. ”Black people have always been America’s wilderness in search of a promised land.” – Cornel West
82. ”We are the heirs of a past of rope, fire, and murder. I for one am not ashamed of this past. My shame is for those who became so inhuman that they could inflict this torture upon us.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
83. ”There comes a time when people get tired of being plunged into the abyss of exploitation and nagging injustice.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
84. ”The time is always right to do what is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
85. “Freedom is never given; it is won.” – A. Philip Randolph
86. ”Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” – Booker T. Washington
87. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes
88. “Go to work! Go to work in the morn of a new creation, until you have… reached the height of self-progress, and from that pinnacle bestow upon the world a civilization of your own.” – Marcus Garvey
89. ”I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history. “ – Morgan Freeman
90. ”The African race is a rubber ball. The harder you dash it to the ground, the higher it will rise.” – African Proverb
91. ”You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man. “- Frederick Douglass
92. ”Character is power.” – Booker T. Washington
93. ”Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.” – Malcolm X
94. ”Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” – George Washington Carver
95. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” – Rosa Parks
96. “Just don’t give up what you’re trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” – Ella Fitzgerald
97. “If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves and allow those responsible to salve their conscience by believing that they have our acceptance and concurrence. We should, therefore, protest openly everything… that smacks of discrimination or slander.” – Mary McLeod Bethune
98. “Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion.” – William Lloyd Garrison
99. “We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers. Our abundance has brought us neither peace of mind nor serenity of spirit.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
100. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali
Read also: 100 Quotes About Optimism that Give More Grateful To Live
101. “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” – Frederick Douglass, ‘Narrative of the Life of Fredrich Douglass’.
102. “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” – Malcolm X, Speech in New York City (1965).
103. “Yes we can!” – Barack Obama, Campaign Slogan, 2008.
104. “Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.” – Denzel Washington, 2017 Commencement Speech at Dillard University.
105. “In all my life, I have never been free. I have never been able to do anything with freedom, except in the field of my writing.” – Langston Hughes, ‘True Freedom’.
106. “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, ‘And Still I Rise’, (1978).
107. “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr, Speech in Washington D.C., 1968.
108. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” – Rosa Parks, ‘Rosa Parks: My Story’.
109. “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” – Thurgood Marshall, Furman v. Georgia, 1972.
110. “One day our descendants will think it’s incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.” – Franklin A. Thomas.
111. “I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed.” – Ralph Ellison, ‘Invisible Man’.
112. “Sometimes I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” – Zora Neale Hurston, ‘How It Feels To Be Colored Me’.
113. “Freedom is never given; it is won.” – A. Philip Randolph.
114. “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.” – Fredrick Douglass, ‘Narrative of the Life of Fredrich Douglass’.
115. “… history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” – Michele Obama, Keynote Address at Young African Women Leaders Forum, 2011.
116. “For I am my mother’s daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart.” – Mary McLeod Bethune, Quoted in ‘Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America’ by Sara Evans (1989).
117. “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” – Dr. Mae C. Jemison.
118. “You can only become accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.” – Maya Angelou, Twitter, 10 June 2013.
119. “We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.” – Jesse Owens, ‘Jesse, A Spiritual Autobiography’.
120. “Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” – Coretta Scott King, First National Conference on the Black Family and Crack Cocaine, speech at San Francisco, 14 April 1989.
121. “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, ‘Quiet Strength: The Faith, the Hope, and the Heart of a Woman who Changed a Nation’ written by Rosa Parks and Gregory J. Reed, (1994).
122. “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.” – Malcolm X, ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’.
123. “The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr, Commencement Address at Oberlin College, 1965.
124. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” – Booker T. Washington, ‘Up From Slavery: An Autobiography’.
125. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Fredrich Douglass, ‘Fredrich Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings’.
126.” You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.” – Maya Angelou, ‘America’s Renaissance Woman’, Academy of Achievement Interview, 22 January 1997.
127. “We must never forget that Black History is American History. The achievements of African Americans have contributed to our nation’s greatness.” – Yvette Clarke, Huffington Post, 2010.
128. “Won’t it be wonderful when black history and Native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history.” – Maya Angelou, Thoughts on Black History Month, 2012.
129. “The African race is a rubber ball. The harder you dash it to the ground, the higher it will rise.” – African Proverb.
130. “Black people have always been America’s wilderness in search of a promised land.” – Cornel West, ‘Race Matters’, (2000).
131. “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” – Frederick Douglass, ‘Narrative of the Life of Fredrich Douglass’.
132. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman.
133. “Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to striving to realize it.” – Earl G. Graves, Sr.
134. “Have a vision. Be demanding.” – Colin Powell, ‘It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership’, (2012).
135. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes, ‘Dreams’, (1994).
136. “What’s the world for if you can’t make it up the way you want it?” – Toni Morrison, ‘Jazz’, (1992).
137. “Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us.” – Susan L. Taylor, ‘Lessons in Living’, (1995).
138. “We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. 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 Woodson, ‘The Mis-Education of the Negro’, (1933).
139. “Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.” – Ola Joseph.
140. “We are the heirs of a past of rope, fire, and murder. I for one am not ashamed of this past. My shame is for those who became so inhuman that they could inflict this torture upon us.” – Martin Luther King, Jr, ‘Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?’ (1967).
141. “I’m very proud to be Black, but Black is not all I am. That’s my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it’s not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.” – Denzel Washington.
142. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X.
143. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela.
144. “Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.” – Barbara Jordan, Campus Speeches, Quoted in the Chicago Tribune, 1974.
145. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.” – Martin Luther King Jr, ‘The Purpose of Education’, Maroon Tiger, 1947.
146. “When children attend schools that place greater value on discipline and security than on knowledge and intellectual development, they are attending prep schools for prison.” – Angela Davis, ‘Are Prisons Obsolete?’ (2011)
147. “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King Jr., Speech at Civil Rights March, Washington D.C., 1963.
148. “Without education, you’re not going anywhere in this world.” – Malcolm X, Speech at Militant Labor Forum, New York, 1964.
149. “If the only time you think of me as a scientist is during Black History Month, then I must not be doing my job as a scientist.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson, Interview with MSNBC.com, 2007.
150. “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” – Marian Wright Edelman, ‘The Measure of our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours’.
Those were the 150 african american quotes that bring change and motivation about usefulness, life, ethnic differences that should be a form of our solidarity together, not to be hated or insulted.
As differences in life are normal, everyone has a way of life and different ethnicities.