“I've had every haircut you could possibly imagine: mullet, tail, dreadlocks, afro, crew cut. It's always been an expression of who I am.” CuttingImagineExpressionWho I AmTailsCrewHaircutsAfrosDreadlocksMulletsNew Haircut Author:Marc Forgione
“Yes, (Bush is a) racist. We all knew that but the world is only finding it out now. As Texas's governor, Bush led a penitentiary system that executed more people than all the other U.S. states together. And most of the people who died from (the) death penalty were Afro-Americans or Hispanics. (Bush) promoted a Conservative program, designed to eliminate everything Americans had accomplished so far in matters of race and equality.” PeopleWorldMatterStatesTogetherRaceFindingsProgramDiedConservativeAccomplishedRacistTexasGovernorsPenaltiesDeath PenaltyAfros Author:Danny Glover
“In every project, I always look for the depth of humanity inside of it. I'm just trying to say if we can help in some way heal the equation with [Afro-Americans] what's going on with us as people.” PeopleIfsWayTryingLooksHelpingHumanityProjectsDepthHealEquationsAfros Author:Forest Whitaker
“When I first came out to L.A., Hollywoods idea of a Latina was Mexican. It was almost like they had never seen or heard of an Afro-Latina before.” FirstsIdeasHeardHollywoodMexicanLatinaAfros Author:Lauren Velez
“The further jazz moves away from the stark blue continuum and the collective realities of Afro-American and American life, the more it moves into academic concert-hall lifelessness, which can be replicated by any middle class showing off its music lessons.” RealityMovingClassMiddleLessonsBlueJazzMiddle ClassCollectivesHallsConcertsAcademicShowing OffStarksAmerican LifeContinuumAfrosMusic Lessons Book:Daggers and javelins: essays, 1974-1979 Source: Daggers and javelins: essays, 1974-1979
“I used to have an afro like Will Ferrell in Semi-Pro. It was bleached blond from the sun. I was tall and awkward. I was not cool.” UsedSunTallAwkwardAfros Author:Liam Hemsworth
“Samba rhythm is a great one to sing on, but it's also got some other suggestions in it, an undercurrent of being primitive - because it is a primitive African, South American, Afro-whatever-you-call-that rhythm. So to white people, it has a very sinister thing about it.” PeopleWhiteSouthRhythmPrimitiveSuggestionsSinisterGreat OnesAfrosSamba Author:Mick Jagger
“The hearts of Afro-American women are too warm and too large for race hatred. Long suffering has so chastened them that they are developing a special sense of sympathy for all who suffer and fail of justice.” HeartLongSufferingJusticeRaceCompassionFailingSpecialHatredWarmAfrican AmericanDevelopingAmerican WomanAfrican American WomenAfrosLong Suffering Author:Fannie Barrier Williams
“The Afro-American experience is the only real culture that America has. Basically, every American tries to walk, talk, dress and behave like African Americans.” TryingRealAmericaCultureWalksDressesAfrican AmericanBehaveAfros Author:Hugh Masekela
“The final test of Afro-American studies will be the extent to which they rid the minds of whites and blacks alike of false learning, and the extent to which they promote for blacks and whites alike a completely rewarding participation in American life.” MindStudyTestsFinalsParticipationAmerican LifeAfros Author:Jay Saunders Redding
“I keep telling everyone that I want to start a revolution but no one is taking me seriously. If I had black skin and an afro, would you take me seriously? If I was an Arab waving a hand grenade, would you take me seriously?” IfsWantHandsBlackRevolutionSkinsTake MeGrenadeAfrosBlack Skin Author:Madonna Ciccone
“One of my dreams is to expand and make sure African music and Afro Beats music is really on the map. I would like to be a contribution to that success.” DreamMusic IsBeatsContributionMapsAfrosAfrican Music Author:Ice Prince
“There came a point when I wanted to do television, and I didn't think the Afro was going to play, so I made a very difficult choice - to straighten my hair.” ThinkingMadePlayWantedChoicesDifficultTelevisionHairAfrosDifficult Choices Author:Jami Floyd
“When I have my Afro and walk down the street, there's no doubt that I'm black. With this [straightened] hair, if I talk about being black on air, viewers write and say, "You're black?!" I feel [straightening your hair] is giving up a sense of your identity. Let's be honest: It's an effort to look Anglo-Saxon.” IfsGivingFeelsWritingLooksBlackWalksEffortDoubtAirStreetsHonestIdentityHairGiving UpBeing HonestNo DoubtViewersAfrosAnglo Saxon Author:Jami Floyd
“To say that the Afro American created jazz doesn't mean anything bad about Anglo Americans, and I always teach my younger jazz musicians that at this point the entirety of the American tradition is your heritage, and you need to know it.” KnowsNeedsMeanTeachMusicianTraditionJazzHeritageJazz MusicJazz MusicianEntiretyAfrosAmerican Tradition Author:Wynton Marsalis
“When I did the Abyssinian mass, I went through the whole history of the church music and the gospel music, even with the Anglo American hymns, the Afro American hymns, the spirituals and how it developed, up to Thomas Dorsey and the Dixie Hummingbirds, going through the history of the music, jazz musicians.” WholeChurchMusicianMassJazzJazz MusicHymnsJazz MusicianAfrosHummingbirdsGospel MusicDixieChurch Music Author:Wynton Marsalis
“I had a great fashion season in September so I told my agent that I would really like to walk the 2015 Victoria's Secret fashion show whilst rocking my short Afro hair.” ShowsWalksSecretFashionHairSeasonsAgentsSeptemberVictoriaAfrosFashion ShowGreat FashionVictoria's Secret Author:Maria Borges
“A friend of mine who works for naval intelligence said an aerial satellite revealed that 1.9 million attended the event in 1995. But if they would have had a rumble at the march the newspapers would have said that 75 million Afro-Americans were there.” IfsSaidMillionsEventsMinesIntelligenceNewspapersMarchSatellitesNavalAfrosRumble Author:Dick Gregory
“At 50, I thought proudly: Here we are, half century! Being 60 was fairly frightening. You want to know how I spent my 70th birthday? I put on a completely black face, a fuzzy black Afro wig, wore black clothes and hung a black wreath on my door.” KnowsWantFacesBlackHalfKnow HowDoorsCenturyClothesFrighteningHungWigsFuzzyAfrosWreathsBlack FaceBlack Clothes Author:Bette Davis
“When I say Afro-American aesthetic, I'm not just talking about the United States, I'm talking about the Americas. People in the Latin countries read my books because they share the same international aesthetic that I'm into and have been into for a long time. And it's multicultural.” PeopleLongHas BeensBookCountryStatesUnitedTalkingUnited StatesShareLong TimeInternationalLatinAestheticMulticulturalAfros Author:Ishmael Reed
“A lot of great art comes from the Afro-American male experience. Black men are geniuses, and many times their desperation, their position as being pariahs, leads them to great originality.” MenArtBlackPositionGeniusMalesOriginalityDesperationGreat ArtAfrosPariahs Author:Ishmael Reed
“I grew up in New York. We were all diversified, as far as music was concerned. I grew up liking just about everything. So I tried to incorporate that into my playing, although the original school where I came from was Afro-Cuban music. But I liked all kinds of music -- I tried to bring that into everything.” KindSchoolNew YorkGrewGrew UpConcernedOriginalsAll KindsCubanAfrosCuban Music Author:Don Alias
“The lesson this teaches and which every Afro-American should ponder well, is that a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give. When the white man who is always the aggressor knows he runs as great a risk of biting the dust every time his Afro-American victim does, he will have greater respect for Afro-American life. The more the Afro-American yields and cringes and begs, the more he has to do so, the more he is insulted, outraged and lynched.” KnowsMenGivingShouldWellsDoeHomeRunningLawUsedBlackWhiteTeachGreaterRiskHonorLessonsShould HaveVictimRefuseProtectionDustYieldWhite ManPonderingRiflesAmerican LifeInsultedBitingOutragedCringeAggressorsAfros Book:On Lynchings Source: On Lynchings
“Yes, but the thing is my influences are so rooted in afro-American culture especially that it's quite sad to not enjoy the same success because the influences are so strong from there.” CultureStrongEnjoyInfluenceRootedAmerican CultureAfros Author:Mick Hucknall
“....the popular music of Jamaica, the music of the people, is an essentially experiential music, not merely in the sense that the people experience the music, but also in the sense that the music is true to the historical experience, that the music reflects the historical experience. It is the spiritual expression of the historical experience of the Afro-Jamaican.” PeopleSpiritualExpressionMusic IsHistoricalJamaicaPopular MusicAfrosJamaicansJamaican Music Author:Linton Kwesi Johnson
“I always thought he gave me that name because I have a kind of outgoing or sunny disposition. And in those days I was kinda blonde and bearded and had an afro and was bushy like a sun. So I don't know, he named me Surya Das but who knows.” KnowsKindNamesSunDispositionSunnyBlondeOutgoingAfrosSunny Disposition Author:Surya Das
“I was the only black girl at my junior high school. I had an afro, a Jamaican accent, I looked really old.” SchoolGirlBlackHigh SchoolAccentsJuniorsJunior HighAfrosBlack GirlJamaicansHigh School Junior Author:Grace Jones
“I can understand how someone might read wearing a blonde wig as a desire to be white, but I suspect that the same shaming smirk can happen if you wear a big afro or any number of other hairstyles.” IfsI CanBigsMightHappensDesireWhiteNumbersSuspectsBlondeWigsHairstylesAfrosSmirk Author:Melissa Harris-Perry
“Biologically speaking the Afro-Asiatic block is in the ascendancy - always remember that both Negro and White are minority groups - the largest race is the Mongoloid group.” RememberWhiteRaceGroupsBlockMinoritiesAfrosAscendancyMinority Groups Author:William S. Burroughs
“I've tried lots with my hair. Obviously I used to have it as a number one all over, super easy, but then I started to grow it out. I had an afro and then I got rid of the sides.” UsedGrowsEasySidesNumbersHairAfros Author:Lewis Hamilton
“In the era of slavery, you could be a so-called Afro-Cuban one day and a so-called Black American the next day, or vice versa. I mean there was all this back and forth, and there was a lot of opposition in Black America to slavery in Cuba in particular, because slavery in Cuba lasted until the 1880s.” MeanAmericaNextBlackParticularOne DaySlaveryVicesErasOppositionNext DayCubaBack And ForthVice VersaCubanAfrosBlack America Author:Gerald Horne
“Here you have 22 million Afro-Americans, black people today, catching more hell than Patrick Henry ever saw. And I'm here to tell you, in case you don't know it, that you got a new - you got a new generation of black people in this country, who don't care anything whatsoever about odds. They don't want to hear you old Uncle Tom handkerchief heads talking about the odds.” PeopleKnowsWantCountryCareTodayBlackTalkingMillionsCasesHellSawsGenerationsDon't CareBlack PeopleTomsOddsUnclesCatchingNew GenerationAfrosNew YouHandkerchiefsUncle Tom Author:Malcolm X
“Malcolm X broke with the N.O.I. in March 1964, and in that last 11 chaotic months, he spent most of the time outside of the United States. Nevertheless, he built two organizations in the spring of 1964. First, Muslim Mosque Incorporated, which was a religious organization that was largely based on members of the N.O.I. who left with him. It was spearheaded by James 67X or James Shabazz, who was his chief of staff. Then secondly was the Organization of Afro-American Unity.” FirstsTwoStatesLastsLeftReligiousUnitedUnited StatesMonthsMembersSpringBuiltOrganizationUnityChiefsBrokeMarchNeverthelessStaffChaoticMosquesAfrosChief Of Staff Author:Manning Marable
“The Organization of Afro-American Unity was an organization that was a secular group. It largely consisted of people that we would later call several years later Black Powerites, Black nationalists, progressives coming out of the Black freedom struggle, the northern students' movement, people - students, young people, professionals, workers, who were dedicated to Black activism and militancy, but outside of the context of Islam.” PeopleYearsYoungBlackStruggleGroupsMovementStudentsOrganizationUnityIslamWorkersActivismComing OutDedicatedSecularAfrosMilitancy Author:Manning Marable
“There were tensions between these two organizations [Organization of Afro-American Unity and N.O.I.] , and Malcolm had to negotiate between them and since he was out of the country a great deal of the time, it was rather difficult for him to do so.” TwoCountryDifficultDealsOrganizationUnityTensionAfros Author:Manning Marable
“The 22 million or 30 million, whatever the case may be, Afro-Americans in the United States were still Africans.” MayStillsStatesUnitedMillionsCasesUnited StatesAfros Author:Malcolm X
“Since the main problem that American, the Afro- Americans have is a lack of cultural identity. It is necessary to teach [people] that they had some type of identity, culture, civilization before they were brought here.” PeopleProblemCultureTeachIdentityTypeCivilizationAfrosCultural Identity Author:Malcolm X
“It is the system itself that, that is incapable of producing freedom for the twenty-two million Afro-Americans. Just like a chicken can't lay a duck egg, a chicken can't lay a duck egg, because the system of the chicken isn't constructed in the way to produce a duck egg. And just as that chicken system can't produce, is not capable to, of producing a duck egg, the political and economic system of this country is absolutely incapable of producing freedom and justice and equality and human dignity for the twenty-two million Afro-Americans.” WayHumansTwoCountryPoliticalJusticeMillionsEconomicProduceCapableDignityTwentiesLaysEggsChickensDucksIncapableHuman DignityEconomic SystemsEquality And JusticeTwenty TwoAfros Author:Malcolm X
“The American system itself is incapable. It is as incapable of producing freedom for the Afro-American as the system of a chicken is of producing a duck egg.” EggsChickensDucksIncapableAfros Author:Malcolm X
“Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and the position of the Afro- American or negro in American history. [He] has done a remarkable job in fighting for rights of black people in this country. On the other hand, he probably hasn't done as much as he could or as much as he should because he is the most independent negro politician in this country.” PeopleShouldCountryDoneHandsJobsPoliticalFightingBlackCareersRightsPositionPoliticianIndependentRemarkableBlack PeopleAdamAmerican HistoryAfros Author:Malcolm X
“I look at the problem of the twenty-two million Afro-Americans as being a problem that's so broad in scope that it's almost impossible for any organization to see it in its entirety.” LooksTwoProblemMillionsImpossibleOrganizationTwentiesBroadsScopeEntiretyTwenty TwoAfros Author:Malcolm X
“The problem [ of the twenty-two million Afro-Americans] is so broad that it's going to take the inner working of all organizations.” TwoProblemMillionsOrganizationTwentiesBroadsTwenty TwoAfros Author:Malcolm X
“Forget the methods or the differences in methods. As long as we agree that the thing that the Afro-American wants and needs is recognition and respect as a human being.” WantNeedsHumansLongDifferencesHuman BeingsForgetAgreeMethodRecognitionWants And NeedsAfros Author:Malcolm X
“I might say this, that the problem of the, the solution for the Afro-American is two-fold - long-range and short-range.” LongTwoProblemMightSolutionsRangeFoldsAfros Author:Malcolm X
“The separating of a section of America for Afro- Americans is similar to expecting a heaven in the sky somewhere after you die.” AmericaDiesHeavenSkyExpectingSectionsSeparatingAfros Author:Malcolm X
“Does that mean that all vestiges of past discrimination would be eliminated, that the income gap or the wealth gap or the education gap [between Afro-Americans and white] would be erased in five years or 10 years? Probably not, and so this is obviously a discussion we've had before when you talk about something like reparations.” YearsMeanDoeWould BePastWealthWhiteFiveIncomeDiscriminationDiscussionFive YearsGapsReparationsAfros Author:Barack Obama
“In January of 1969, after a meeting to discuss the leadership of UCLA's new Afro-American Program, [Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter and John Huggins, Jr.] were murdered on campus by a rival black nationalist group, the United Slaves Organization. This shook up all the students, black and white, and made us all realize that what we were doing wasn't just an academic exercise, but had repercussions in the real world.” WorldMadeRealBlackRealizingWhiteUnitedGroupsStudentsExerciseProgramOrganizationMeetingsSlaveReal WorldAcademicBlack And WhiteRivalsCarterJanuaryCampusRepercussionsUclaAfros Author:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“When you go to South Africa, you get a different vibe and a different sound. The music is awesome the people are loving it. When you go to Botswana, it's a different ball game. The people out there love Afro Beat Hip Hop so much. When you go to Sierra Leone it's different, when you go to Nigeria it's different... It's all pretty exciting!” PeopleDifferentGamesSoundMusic IsBeatsBallsExcitingSouthHip HopHipsHopsSouth AfricaNigeriaSierraBall GamesAfrosSierra Leone Author:Ice Prince
“When we say Afro American, we include everyone in the Western Hemisphere of African descent. South America is America. Central America is America. South America has many people in it of African descent.” PeopleAmericaSouthWesternDescentHemisphereSouth AmericaAfrosCentral America Book:By any means necessary Source: By any means necessary
“If you are serious about American culture and you are serious about Afro-American culture, you are in a lot of pain. You are not - you are not smiling about it.” IfsPainCultureSeriousAmerican CultureAfros Author:Wynton Marsalis