Black activist

Explore 81 quotes by Black activists

The story of our inferiority is an old dodge, as I have said: for wherever men oppress their fellows, wherever they enslave them, they will endeavor to find the needed apology for such enslavement and oppression in the character of the people oppressed and enslaved.

Frederick Douglass

More information about this quote

Topic

Oppressor and oppressed

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. “What the Black Man Wants.” Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 26 Jan. 1865, Boston, MA, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Great Speeches by Frederick Douglass. Dover Publications, 2013.

Oppressed people are frequently very oppressive when first liberated. And why wouldn't they be? They know best two positions. Somebody's foot on their neck or their foot on somebody's neck.

Florynce Kennedy

More information about this quote

Topic

Consequences of oppression Oppressor and oppressed

Author

Florynce Kennedy

Genre

Feminist literature

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kennedy, Florynce. "Institutionalized Oppression vs. the Female." Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings From The Women’s Liberation Movement, edited by Robin Morgan. Vintage Books, 1970.

Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow-red, yellow, brown, black and white-and all are precious in God's sight. America is not like a blanket, one piece of unbroken cloth-the same color, the same texture, the same size. It is more like a quilt-many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.

Jesse Jackson

Address to Democratic National Convention, 1988

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Topic

American diversity America

Speaker

Jesse Jackson

Source

Address to Democratic National Convention, 1988

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Jackson, Jesse. Address in San Francisco. Democratic National Convention. 17 July 1984, San Francisco, CA, USA.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream

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Read the full transcript of I Have a Dream at americanrhetoric.com

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Topic

Racial equality Political reconciliation

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

I Have a Dream

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "I Have a Dream." March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 28 Aug. 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, USA.

Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?

W.E.B. Du Bois

The Souls of Black Folk

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Read The Souls of Black Folk at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Black experience

Author

W.E.B. Du Bois

Source

The Souls of Black Folk

Genre

Sociology

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt. The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches. A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt. The Souls of Black Folk, edited by Brent Hayes Edwards. Oxford University Press, 2009, ch. 1.

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

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Read the Letter From a Birmingham Jail at upenn.edu

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil disobedience Breaking the law Fighting injustice

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Medium

Open letter Letter

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.

Current Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail (1963)." A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches, edited by James M. Washington. HarperOne, 2003.

The nation is sick, trouble is in the land, confusion all around... But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I've Been to the Mountaintop

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Read this speech at cnn.com

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Topic

Things get better

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

I've Been to the Mountaintop

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” 3 Apr. 1968, Mason Temple, Memphis, TN, USA.

The ground which a colored man occupies in this country is, every inch of it, sternly disputed.

More information about this quote

Topic

Black experience

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1853 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Speech in New York City. American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society annual meeting. 11 May 1853, New York City, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "A Nation in the Midst of a Nation (1853)." The Speeches of Frederick Douglass, edited by John R. McKivigan, Julie Husband and Heather L. Kaufman. Yale University Press, 2018.

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man, without at last finding the other end of it fastened about his own neck.

More information about this quote

Topic

Consequences of oppression

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Speech in Washington, D.C. Civil Rights Mass Meeting. 22 Oct. 1883, Lincoln Hall, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "This Decision Has Humbled the Nation (1883)." The Speeches of Frederick Douglass, edited by John R. McKivigan, Julie Husband and Heather L. Kaufman. Yale University Press, 2018.

Even if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; (Go ahead) sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

More information about this quote

Topic

Doing a good job Vocation

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Medium

Sermon

Language

English

Time

1967 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life." 9 April 1967, New Convenant Baptist Church, Chicago, IL, USA. Sermon.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I See the Promised Land

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Read the full transcript of this speech at americanrhetoric.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Political progress

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

I See the Promised Land

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” 3 Apr. 1968, Mason Temple, Memphis, TN, USA.

Justice is love on legs, spilling over into the public sphere.

Cornel West

More information about this quote

Topic

Love as action Justice Political progress Progress

Speaker

Cornel West

Source

Big Think

Medium

Interview

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

2009 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

West, Cornell. "Cornell West's Catastrophic Love." BigThink.com, 6 Nov. 2009.

Pain is an event, an experience that must be recognized, named, and then used in some way in order for the experience to change, to be transformed into something else, strength or knowledge or action.

Audre Lorde

Sister Outsider

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More information about this quote

Topic

Pain Learning from suffering

Author

Audre Lorde

Source

Sister Outsider

Medium

Essay

Genre

Feminist literature

Language

English

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lorde, Audre. "Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger." Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press, 1984.

"Wait" has almost always meant "Never."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

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Read the Letter From a Birmingham Jail at upenn.edu

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Social progress Political progress Progress Politics

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Medium

Open letter Letter

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.

Current Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail (1963)." A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches, edited by James M. Washington. HarperOne, 2003.

You had better make some noise.

Malcolm X

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More information about this quote

Topic

Standing up for what's right Fighting for justice Injustice Activism

Author

Malcolm X

Source

Autobiography of Malcolm X

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley. Grove Press, 1965.

New York was heaven to me. And Harlem was Seventh Heaven!

Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

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More information about this quote

Topic

New York City

Author

Malcolm X

Source

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley. Grove Press, 1965.

We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; the rock was landed on us.

Malcolm X

The Ballot or the Bullet

More information about this quote

Topic

Black experience

Speaker

Malcolm X

Source

The Ballot or the Bullet

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Inversion

Language

English

Time

1964 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Malcolm X. "The Ballot or the Bullet." 29 Mar. 1964, Audubon Ballroom, Washington Heights, NY, USA.

There are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

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Read the Letter From a Birmingham Jail at upenn.edu

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Topic

Civil disobedience Law Justice Legal theory Moral theory

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Medium

Open letter Letter

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.

Current Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail (1963)." A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches, edited by James M. Washington. HarperOne, 2003.

I had felt for a long time, that if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so.

Rosa Parks

Regarding the day in 1955 on which Ms. Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus for a white man. Widely considered the beginning of the US Civil Rights movement.

More information about this quote

Topic

Jim Crow Civil rights movement

Speaker

Rosa Parks

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

1967 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Parks, Rosa. Quoted in Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, written by David Garrow. William Morrow, 1988, ch. 1.

Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.

Frederick Douglass

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

On slave songs.

Read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Slave songs Slavery Liberation Music

Author

Frederick Douglass

Source

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1845 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845, ch. 2.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." Frederick Douglass: Autobiographies, edited by Henry Louis Gates. Library of America, 1994, ch. 2.