Every year for the month of February (in the U.S.), we remember important people of African descent. Black History Month is not only exclusive to commemorating the Civil Rights Movement; it acknowledges the accomplishments of influential people of the African diaspora. There are many Black leaders, scientists, inventors, doctors, lawyers, authors, politicians, teachers, athletes, and entertainers who have made numerous contributions to the advancement of society.
In honor of Black History, here are some quotes from prominent African American figures that will uplift, encourage, inspire, and empower you. Table of Contents
Quotes About Acknowledging and Honoring Those Who Came Before Us (1-6)
1. “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, American author, poet, writer, civil rights activist, and memoirist.
2. “I am not ashamed of my grandparents having been slaves. I am only ashamed of having one time been ashamed.”- Ralph Ellison, American novelist, literary critic, and scholar.
3. “A people without the knowledge of their past history is like a tree without roots.” –Marcus Garvey, Jamaican political activist, Pan-Africanist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and speaker.
4. “We have a certain measure of responsibility to those who made it possible for us to take advantage of today’s opportunities.” Angela Davis, American Political Activist, philosopher, scholar, writer, author, and professor.
5. “You can never know where you are going unless you know where you have been.” Amelia Boynton Robinson, American Civil Rights pioneer and voting activist.
6. “You are where you are today because you stand on somebody’s shoulders. And wherever you are heading, you cannot get there by yourself. If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a reciprocal responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders. It’s the quid pro quo of life. We exist temporarily through what we take, but live forever through what we give.” Vernon Jordan, American business executive, and civil rights activist.
Quotes About Being The Change You Want To See (7-12)
7. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” -Maya Angelou, American author, poet, writer, civil rights activist, and memoirist.
8. “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, The First Black President of the United States, attorney, and politician.
9. “There are times in life instead of complaining; you do something about your complaints.” – Rita Dove, American poet, author, writer, and essayist.
10. “There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.”-James Baldwin, American novelist, essayist, poet, playwright, and civil rights activist.
11. You don’t have to be one of those people that accepts things as they are. Every day, take responsibility for changing them right where you are.” Cory Booker, American politician, former mayor of Newark, and junior senator from New Jersey.
12. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American Civil Rights Leader, and Christian minister.
Black History Month Quotes About Making a Difference In The World (13-20)
13. “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American Civil Rights Leader, and Christian minister.
14. “If you’re not making someone else’s life better, then you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other people’s lives better” -Will Smith, American actor, rapper, songwriter, comedian, and producer.
15. “History has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take a life of its own.” -Michelle Obama, American lawyer, writer, university administrator, and the first African American First Lady of the United States. 
16. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”-Maya Angelou, American author, poet, writer, civil rights activist, and memoirist.
17. “You never know how or when you’ll have an impact, or how important your example can be to someone else.” Denzel Washington, American actor, director, and producer.
18. “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”– Jackie Robinson, The first African American professional baseball player to play in the Major Baseball League.
19. “When you can do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” George Washington Carver, American Inventor, and scientist.
20. “Make a difference about something other than yourselves.”-Toni Morrison, American novelist, college professor, writer, essayist, and book editor.
Black History Month Quotes About Believing In Yourself (21-27)
21. “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” -Marcus Garvey, Jamaican political activist, Pan-Africanist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and speaker.
22. “Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability becomes true for us.” Susan L. Taylor, American editor, writer, and journalist.
23. “When you make a choice and say, ‘Come hell or high water, I am going to be this.’ then you should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that…when the moment comes, of course, it is here because it has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time.”-Kobe Bryant, American professional basketball player, N.B.A. Most Valuable Player (M.V.P.), All-Star champion, and one of the greatest players of all time.
24. “What you are thinking is what you are becoming.”– Muhammad Ali, American professional boxer, social activist, philanthropist, Olympic gold medalist, and former world heavyweight boxing champion.
25. “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” -Authur Ashe, The first African American tennis professional tennis player, chosen to play in the United States Davis Cup team and winner of three Grand slam singles titles.
26. “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.”– Oprah Winfrey, American television producer, talk show host, actress, media executive, and philanthropist.
27. “Believe in yourself when nobody does.” Mary J. Blige, American singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist.
Black History Quotes About Following Your Dreams (28-36)
28. “Every 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, American abolitionist, political activist, Conductor of the Underground Railroad, and nurse.
29. “Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to striving to realize it.”-Earl G. Graves, Sr., American businessman, entrepreneur philanthropist, an advocate of African American businesses and founder and publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine
30. “Hold on fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”– Langston Hughes, American novelist, poet, playwright, writer, columnist, and social activist.
31. “If your dreams do not scare you, they aren’t big enough.”– Muhammad Ali, American professional boxer, social activist, philanthropist, Olympic gold medalist, and former world heavyweight boxing champion.
32. “Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” – George Washington Carver, American Inventor and scientist.
33. “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, American sprinter, and Olympic champion.
34. “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”– Oprah Winfrey, American television producer, talk show host, actress, media executive, and philanthropist.
35. “Please go for your dreams. Whatever your ideals, you can become whatever you want to become.” – Michael Jackson, American singer, songwriter, dancer, humanitarian, philanthropist, actor, one of the greatest entertainers of all time, and The King of Pop.
36. “Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.” -Shonda Rhimes, American television producer, author, and T.V. show, and film writer.
Black History Quotes About Doing What Is Right (37-40)
37. “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” Ida B. Wells, American journalist, educator, and civil rights leader.
38. “You are 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, American Human Rights Leader, revolutionary, and Nation of Islam minister.
39. “The time is always right to do what is right.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American Civil Rights Leader, and Christian minister.
40. “Truth is powerful and it prevails.” -Sojourner Truth” American abolitionist and women’s rights activist.
Black History Quotes About Facing Discrimination (41-45)
41. “Until the color of your skin is the target; you will never understand.”– Angela Davis, American Political Activist, philosopher, scholar, writer, author, and professor.
42. “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, American Author, anthropologist, and folklorist.
43. “There is nothing wrong with seeing color. It’s how you treat color that’s important.”-Trevor Noah, South African comedian, writer, producer, actor, television host, and political commentator.
44. “I am not a racist. I am against every form of racism and segregation, every form of discrimination. I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.”– Malcolm X, American Human Rights Leader, revolutionary, and Nation of Islam Minister.
45. “If we 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, American Civil Rights Activist, Politician, educator, philanthropist, womanist, and humanitarian.
Black History Quotes About Fighting For Justice (46-49)
46. “Stand for something, or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.” -Rosa Parks, American Civil Rights Activist.
47. “I knew then, and I know now when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it.” – Claudette Colvin, American Activist, and pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement.
48. “I’ve been locked up, and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace.”
Aretha Franklin, American singer, songwriter, pianist, civil rights activist, and The Queen of Soul.
49. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” -Rosa Parks, American Civil Rights Activist.
Black History Month Quotes About Freedom (50-55)
50. “You can’t’ separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”– Malcolm X, American Human Rights Leader, revolutionary, and Nation of Islam minister.
51. “We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” -Angela Davis, American Political Activist, philosopher, scholar, writer, author, and professor.
52. “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” –Fannie Lou Hammer, American Civil Rights Leader, educator, and voting and woman’s rights activist.
Related: Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom
53. “The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” -W.E.B. Du Bois, American Civil Rights Activist, Pan Africanist, sociologist, historian, writer, scholar, poet, author, and editor.
54. “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”– Nelson Mandela, The First Black President of South Africa, anti-apartheid revolutionary and philanthropist.
55. “Freedom is people realizing they are their own leader.”- Diane Nash, American Civil Rights Activist, and coordinator of the Freedom Riders.
Black History Month Quotes About Humanity (56-61)
56. “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.”- Thurgood Marshall, American Civil Rights Attorney, and the first Black Associate Supreme Court Justice.
57. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” -Desmond Tutu, South African cleric, anti-apartheid and human rights activist.
58. “Can we see in each other a common humanity, a shared dignity, and recognize how our different experiences have shaped us?” – Barack Obama, The first Black President of the United States, attorney, and politician.
59. “Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.” -Ola Joseph, Nigerian author, speaker, trainer, and consultant.
60. “Our nation is a rainbow -red, yellow, brown, black, and white, and we’re all precious in God’s sight.”– Jesse Jackson, American Civil Rights Activist, politician, and Baptist minister.
61. “We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right.” Aretha Franklin, American singer, songwriter, pianist, civil rights activist, and The Queen of Soul.
Quotes About Facing Challenges (62-65)
62. “Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.” – Cicely Tyson, American actress, and former model.
63. “Everyone has challenges and lessons to learn. We wouldn’t be who we are without them.”– Sean “Diddy” Combs, American record executive, entrepreneur, record producer, rapper, mogul, actor, and clothing designer.
64. “This is the moment I accept that all challenging times will be behind me and in front of me.” – Kobe Bryant, American professional basketball player, N.B.A. Most Valuable Player (M.V.P.), All-Star Champion, and one of the greatest players of all time.
65. “Magic lies in challenging what seems impossible.”– Carol Mosely Braun, American politician, diplomat, and lawyer.
Black History Month Quotes About Never Giving Up (66-70)
66. “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of all. And so today I still have a dream.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., American Civil Rights Leader, and Christian minister.
67. “While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.”– Maya Angelou, American author, poet, writer, civil rights activist, and memoirist.
68. “Don’t ever give up on yourself. Keep pushing because the change of guards is what it is all about. You’ve got to always stick with what you are into because your day is going to come. Your day is destined. If you walk away from that, whether it be from fear or just giving up. The greatest sin is fear and giving up. -Nas, American Hip-hop artist, songwriter, entrepreneur, and investor.
69. “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender.” Tupac Shakur, American Hip hop artist, songwriter, and actor.
70. Just don’t give up what you are trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” –Ella Fitzgerald, American jazz singer, and The First Lady of Song.
Black History Month Quotes About Relinquishing Fears (71-75)
71. “When I dare to be powerful- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid” – Audre Lorde, American writer, civil rights activist, librarian, and womanist.
72. “You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” – Michelle Obama, American lawyer, writer, university administrator, and the first African American First Lady of the United States. 
73. “The secret of life is to have no fear: It’s the only way to function.”– Stokely Carmichael, Trinidadian civil rights activist, leader of the black nationalism movement, and Pan-Africanist.
74. “I am lucky that whatever fear I have inside me, my desire to win is always stronger.”– Serena Williams, American professional tennis player and winner of the most majors singles titles.
75. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”– Muhammad Ali, American professional boxer, social activist, philanthropist, Olympic gold medalist, and former world heavyweight boxing champion.
Black History Month Quotes About Empowerment Through Education and Knowledge (76-80)
76. “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” -Marian Wright Edelman, American Children’s Rights Activist and advocate for disadvantaged Americans.
77. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela, The First Black President of South Africa, anti-apartheid revolutionary and philanthropist.
78. “Education is the passport to The future for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”– Malcolm X, American Human Rights Leader, revolutionary, and Nation of Islam minister.
79. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensely and to think critically. Education plus character, that is the goal of true education.”-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American Civil Rights Leader, and Christian minister.
80. “Education is good to the extent that it solves your problem. When you do not educate your children to solve the problems that will confront them/us, then they are being miseducated.”-Dr. Amos Wilson, American author, writer, social theorist, theoretical psychologist, scholar, professor, and Pan-Africanist.
Black History Month Quotes About Success (81-88)
81. “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, American educator, author, writer, speaker, and advisor to many U.S. presidents. He founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
82. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”– Colin Powell, Jamaican born former United States National Security Advisor, politician and four-star general in the U.S. military.
83. “If you want to be successful you have to jump, there’s no way around it. If you are safe, you will never soar.” Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian, radio show host, television show host, businessman, and television producer.
84. “It’s all about the work. If you want to be a lawyer, see yourself as a lawyer and start learning the law. If you want to be a rapper, start rapping and get out there. Live your life as if you already are where you want to be.” Russell Simmons, American business mogul, record executive, entrepreneur, writer, and film producer.
85. “Don’t think about the start of the race, think about the ending.” -Usain Bolt, Jamaican former sprinter, Olympic champion, and the fastest man in the world.
86. “You can only become truly accomplished in 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 of you.”-Maya Angelou, American author, poet, writer, civil rights activist and memoirist.
87. “Success to me is just being able to do what you love to do and support yourself all through.”– Nipsey Hustle, American rapper, songwriter, community activist, and entrepreneur.
88. “Like what you do, and then you will do your best.” -Katherine Johnson, American NASA research mathematician.
Black History Month Quotes About Growth Mindset (89-93)
89. “A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted thirty years of his life.” Muhammad Ali, American professional boxer, social activist, philanthropist, Olympic gold medalist, and former world heavyweight boxing champion.
90. “You are never too old to reinvent yourself.”– Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian, radio show host, television show host, businessman, and television producer.
91. “Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now.” Diana Ross, American singer, actress, and record producer.
92. “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”– Langston Hughes, American novelist, poet, playwright, writer, columnist, and social activist.
93. “No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.”-Alice Walker, American novelist, poet, writer, and social activist.
Black History Month Quotes About Greatness (94-100)
94. “We must never forget that Black History is American History. The achievements of African Americans have contributed to our nation’s greatness.”– Yvette Clarke, American congresswoman
95. “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” – Dr. Mae Jamison, American Engineer, physician, and former NASA Astronaut.
96. “Almost always, the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better.”– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American Civil Rights Leader, and Christian minister.
97. “When I found I had crossed the line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything.”-Harriet Tubman, American abolitionist, political activist, Conductor of the Underground Railroad, and nurse.
98. “Greatness is not this wonderful esoteric, elusive, God-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. Its something that truly exists in all of us.” – Will Smith, American actor, rapper, songwriter, comedian, and producer.
98. “Focusing on solely making a buck shows poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.” -Barack Obama, The first Black President of the United States, attorney, and politician.
99. “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, Jamaican political activist, Pan-Africanist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and speaker.
100 “You Have to aspire to something so great that you have to have God’s help.” Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian, radio show host, television show host, businessman, and television producer.
Quotes About Spirituality and Inner Peace (101-107)
101. “The soul that is within me no man can degrade.”- Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist, writer, speaker, politician, and social reformer. He also served as an advisor to a few of the U.S. Presidents.
101. “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer and let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” -Maya Angelou, American author, poet, writer, civil rights activist, and memoirist.
102. “If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere.” – Marvin Gaye, American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
103. “A strong spirit transcends rules.” Prince, American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker.
104. “I shall make no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.”– Booker T. Washington, American educator, author, writer, speaker, and advisor to many U.S. presidents.
105. “God’s plan for you is greater than any plan you can think of.”– Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian, radio show host, television show host, businessman, and television producer
107. “Sometimes you struggle so hard to feed your family one way, you forget to feed them the other way, with spiritual nourishment. Everybody needs that.”– James Brown, American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, music producer, dancer, bandleader, and The Godfather of Soul.
Quotes About Authenticity (108-115)
108. “Character is power.”-Booker T. Washington, American educator, author, writer, speaker and advisor to many U.S. presidents. He founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
109. “One of the lessons that I grew up with was to be true to yourself and never let what someone says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.” -Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States and lawyer.
110. “What I learned from myself is that I don’t have to be anyone else. Myself is good enough.”– Lupita Nyongo, Kenyan- Mexican Actress
111. “I am realizing you don’t need to change anything about yourself. This is who you are and that’s okay. That’s daring.”-Uzo-Aduba, Nigerian-American actress.
112. “Don’t spend all of your time trying to be like someone else because you can never be them and they can never be you.” -Raven Symone, American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and television host.
113. “If I was going to be successful, I had to be successful with myself. I couldn’t be successful doing what other people were doing. The worst thing is to be successful as someone else. That’s a very difficult thing to upkeep and very tiring.” -Jay-Z, American Hip hop artist, songwriter, entrepreneur, record executive, investor, philanthropist, record producer, and business mogul.
114. “You can’t copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you are not working without any real feeling.” –Billie Holiday, American jazz singer.
115. “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false and to incur my own abhorrence.” –Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist, writer, speaker, politician, and social reformer. He also served as an advisor to a few of the U.S. Presidents.
Quotes About Living Life by Your Own Terms (116-121)
116. “Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others is one of the most difficult challenges I face.”– Carol Moseley-Braun, American politician, diplomat, and lawyer.
117. “I’m the one that has to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” Jimi Hendrix, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
118. “If I am a cup maker, I am interested in making the best cup I possibly can, My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.”– Denzel Washington, American actor, director, and producer.
119. “You can be the lead in your own life.”– Kerry Washington, American actress.
120. “Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions.”-Will Smith, American actor, rapper, songwriter, comedian, and producer.
121. “I don’t have any time to stay up all night worrying about what someone who doesn’t love me has to say about me.” Viola Davis, American actress.
Which ones are your favorite quotes? I would love to hear about them in the comments!
Until next time!
Yours truly,
Tracy
