Quotes from Black Leaders

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. – Martin Luther King Jr.

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

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. – Booker T. Washington

The time is always right to do what is right. – Martin Luther King Jr.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. – Martin Luther King Jr.

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. – Frederick Douglass

Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself. – Alice Walker

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. – Martin Luther King Jr.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. – Martin Luther King Jr.

I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. – Carl Jung

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. – Alice Walker

We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. – Maya Angelou

No person has the right to rain on your dreams. – Marian Wright Edelman

Quotes from Black Leaders part 2

Discrimination is not an option. Equality is the only way forward. – Jesse Williams

Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. – Martin Luther King Jr.

If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down. – Toni Morrison

The beauty of standing up for your rights is others see you standing and stand up as well. – Cassandra Duffy

You are your best thing. – Toni Morrison

I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. – Audre Lorde

Change begins with understanding and empathy. – Michelle Obama

The power to define yourself rather than be defined by others is a sweet victory. – Oprah Winfrey

The only way to deal with injustice is to confront it head-on. – John Lewis

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. – Audre Lorde

I did not come to play small or hide my brilliance. I am here to shine and inspire others to do the same. – Tarana Burke

Your silence will not protect you. – Audre Lorde

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. – Martin Luther King Jr.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. – Maya Angelou

You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. – Shirley Chisholm

When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment. – Maya Angelou

I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history. – Morgan Freeman

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

We must sacrifice some of today for a better tomorrow. We cannot afford to remain silent or indifferent. – John Lewis

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King Jr.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. – Peter Drucker

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. – Alice Walker

The future belongs to those who prepare for it today. – Malcolm X

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain. – Maya Angelou

When they go low, we go high. – Michelle Obama

You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. – Malcolm X

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. – Martin Luther King Jr.

It is our collective failure to listen to the experiences of Black people that perpetuates injustice. – Angela Davis

We must be willing to get uncomfortable in order to bring about change. – John Lewis

Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society. – John Lewis

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. – Nelson Mandela

If you want to make a difference, speak up and take action. – Rosa Parks