African American quotes
493 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside african american — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"I find that people today tend to use them interchangeably. I use African-American, because I teach African Studies as well as African-American Studies, so it's easy, neat and convenient. But sometimes, when you're in a barber shop, somebody'll say, "Did you see what that Negro did?" A lot of people slip in and out of different terms effortlessly, and I don't think the thought police should be on patrol."
"I am an American. Black. Conservative. I don't use African-American, because I'm American, I'm black and I'm conservative. I don't like people trying to label me. African- American is socially acceptable for some people, but I am not some people."
"Powerful people never educate powerless people in what they need that they can use to take the power away from powerful people; it's too much to expect. If I was in power, I would not educate people in how to take my powers away."
"I stay connected in my head. I'm spiritually and psychologically connected to African-Americans. They are my people, and that will never change."
"Whoever debases others is debasing himself."
"I don't think people have been able to deal with the fact that African American filmmakers can make movies about life and relationships."
"I think Muslims in particular are facing similar obstacles African Americans did, historically."
"I have been amazed by the Anglo-Saxon's lack of curiosity about the internal lives and emotions of the Negroes, and for that matter, any non-Anglo-Saxon peoples within our borders, above the class of unskilled labor."
"It doesn't matter how you travel it, it's the same road. It doesn't get any easier when you get bigger, it gets harder. And it will kill you if you let it."
"The Irish were treated horribly, even here in Boston. For example, in the late nineteenth century they were treated pretty much like African Americans. You could find signs here in Boston in the restaurants saying "No dogs and Irish.""
"Being black, I'm involved in the reparations movement. It's focused toward the African-American audience. We could begin to heal."
"I have crossed over on the backs of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Madam C. J. Walker. Because of them I can now live the dream. I am the seed of the free, and I know it. I intend to bear great fruit."
"To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time."
"No human being can be more human than another human being. I liberate you from my ignorance."
"I feel like I come from a smaller off shoot of black people because I am mixed. People say I’m African American but that doesn’t include the other half of me."
"You didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth."
"It is my hope that as we commemorate Black History Month in the future, we will continue to celebrate the many achievements and rich culture of African-Americans."
"During the Great Depression, African Americans were faced with problems that were not unlike those experienced by the most disadvantaged groups in society. The Great Depression had a leveling effect, and all groups really experienced hard times: poor whites, poor blacks."
"The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free."
"No matter where you're from - you can be Native American, Italian, Jewish, Latino, African-American - whatever you are, we're all distant relatives."
