February is Black History Month. The commemoration began nearly a hundred years ago when historian Carter G. Woodson initiated a week-long observance back in 1926. That recognition evolved over the century and by 1976, it was extended into the month-long celebration it is today.
The purpose of the annual observance is to pay tribute to more than 400 years of Black history in America, the countless contributions of African Americans, as well as their struggles for freedom and equality.
“Black Americans have made a way not only for themselves but also have helped build a highway for millions of women, immigrants, other historically marginalized communities, and all Americans to more fully experience the benefits of our society,” former president Joe Biden wrote in a 2023 proclamation on National Black History Month.
To mark the occasion, we've collected a list of powerful Black History Month quotes from activists, icons, orators and famous figures, including Martin Luther King Jr., Shirley Chisholm, Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, Muhammad Ali and many others who've galvanized generations with their words.
By sharing these Black History Month quotes, not only will you continue to spotlight the achievements of generations of Black Americans, but also encourage those around you to continue the journey of learning.
- “There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” — Booker T. Washington
- “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” — Mae Jemison
- “We must always be a strong presence, an unrelenting force working for equality and justice until the freedom gates are fully open.” — Dorothy Height
- “Let us never forget that Black history continues to define American history.” — Yvette D. Clarke
- “When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.” — Bayard Rustin
- “We have to fight every inch of the way and in the face of sometimes insufferable humiliations.” — Jane Bolin
- “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin
- “Once we realize we are all members of humanity, we will want to compete in the spirit of love.” — Muhammad Ali
- “History has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own.” — Michelle Obama
- “How many years has it taken people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race?” —Marsha P. Johnson
- “You do what you think is right and let the law catch up.” — Thurgood Marshall
- “You must place interest in principle above interest on principal.” — Julian Bond
- “You are not and yet you are: your thoughts, your deeds, above all your dreams still live.” — W.E.B. Du Bois
- “Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” — Madam C.J. Walker
- “We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” — Angela Davis
- “Believe in yourself, learn, and never stop wanting to build a better world.” — Mary McLeod Bethune
- “A life is not important except in the impact is has on other lives.” — Jackie Robinson
- “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” — Arthur Ashe
- “Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind.” — James Baldwin
- “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker
- “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,
- “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it.” — Amanda Gorman
- “We have been too quiet for too long. There comes a time when you have to say something. You have to make a little noise. You have to move your feet. This is the time.” — John Lewis
- “The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self.” — Whitney M. Young Jr.
- “Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” — Coretta Scott King
- “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” — Shirley Chisholm
- “Anyone who claims to be a leader must speak like a leader. That means speaking with integrity and truth.” — Kamala Harris
- “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” — Frederick Douglass
- “The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” — Ella Fitzgerald
- “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” — Muhammad Ali
- “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” — Barack Obama
- “I knew then and I know now, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it.” — Claudette Colvin
- “Character is power.” — Booker T. Washington
- “I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.” — Rosa Parks
- “I am lucky that whatever fear I have inside me, my desire to win is always stronger.” — Serena Williams
- “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.” — Michelle Obama
- “What’s in front of you is a whole word of experiences beyond your own imagination. Put yourself, and your growth and development, first.” — Phylicia Rashad
- “Use your skills, your knowledge, your instincts to serve the world — to go change the world in the way that only you can.” — Robert F. Smith
- “If we want to get to the place where all lives matter, then we have to make sure that Black lives matter, too.” — Alicia Garza
- “Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us.” — Susan L. Taylor
- “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” — Desmond Tutu
- “In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.” — Jesse Owens
- “The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.” — Maya Angelou
- “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” — Oprah Winfrey
- “The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” — W.E.B. DuBois
- “You can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people. You can’t save the people if you don’t serve the people.” — Cornel West
- “The one thing I feel is lacking in Hollywood today is an understanding of the beauty, the power, the sexuality, the uniqueness, the humor of being a regular Black woman.” — Viola Davis
- “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
- “Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what’s more than enough.” — Billie Holiday
- “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” — Ida B. Wells
- “I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something I just had to be.” — Lupita Nyong’o
- “When we’re talking about diversity, it’s not a box to check. It is a reality that should be deeply felt and held and valued by all of us.” — Ava DuVernay
- “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
