“My concern was first, for the black people of Mississippi, then I became concerned for black people nationwide, now my concern is for black people all over the world. I began to realize that it's not as much about race as we think it is. It's about the rich vs. the poor. I feel as if the different races are pitted against one another so we won't see the bigger (financial disparity) problem.” PeopleIfsThinkingWorldFeelsFirstsDifferentProblemBlackRealizingPoorRaceRichConcernConcernedBiggerFinancialBlack PeopleMississippiDisparityDifferent Races Author:David Banner
“I will probably have a tendency to lean toward trying to resolve the issues that negatively impact black people, but the overall picture and the overall power is achieved in bringing all impoverished people together. The common denominator is pain, because we all suffer through the deaths of loved ones and eventually suffer death.” PeopleTryingPainTogetherSufferingBlackCommonIssuesImpactTendenciesResolveBlack PeopleLoved OnesDeath Of A Loved OneCommon Denominator Author:David Banner
“The truth is there are people who are quite informed who still vote against their interests. I would argue that, as a Green Party supporter, I would argue that middle-class black people are voting against their interests oftentimes.” PeopleStillsBlackInterestPartyClassMiddleTruth IsVoteGreenArguingVotingMiddle ClassBlack PeopleSupporterGreen Party Author:Marc Lamont Hill
“I heard black people sing and the emotion was overwhelming to me. The power of that with all the built in sorrow and joy was just overwhelming to me as a little kid. It was the real deal.” PeopleLittlesRealKidsJoyBlackDealsEmotionHeardSorrowBuiltOverwhelmingBlack PeopleLittle Kid Author:Steve Young
“The boundless capacity of the African American spirit in this country to say Hallelujah anyhow, to use our joy as a weapon, to use our creativity as a weapon, to use our moral clarity and our deep experience as a weapon not just to save Black people but to save all of these people.” PeopleCountryUseJoySpiritBlackMoralCreativityWeaponsCapacityClarityAfrican AmericanBlack PeopleBoundlessHallelujahAmerican Spirit Author:Van Jones
“There was always resistance and there was always a counter-narrative, but we were told all through the early twentieth century that black people in the South don't want an education, they don't want to vote, they're simple people, they don't want this, they don't want that.” PeopleWantBlackSimpleCenturyVoteSouthResistanceNarrativeBlack PeopleTwentieth Century Author:Bill Ayers
“The laws of spiritual physics will not allow you to lead somebody that you don't love, that you don't care about, that you resent, that you look down on. That's why the Republicans can't lead black people. And that's why Democrats increasingly can't lead these straight, white, male demons that we hate so much.” PeopleLooksCareSpiritualLawHateBlackWhiteRepublicanDemocratMalesDon't CarePhysicsDemonBlack PeopleResent Author:Van Jones
“I want the coal miners, who've been American heroes, who kept the lights put on for black people and white people for a hundred years, and who now are too sick to work, I want them to be able to go see a doctor. I don't care who they vote for. I don't care if they vote for a Tea Party Republican, I'm fighting for you because I voted for you to live in a country where we don't have disposable people.” PeopleIfsWantYearsCountryLightCareAbleFightingBlackWhitePartyHeroRepublicanHundredDoctorsVoteSickDon't CareTeaI Don't CareBlack PeopleCoalTea PartyMinersDisposableCoal MinersAmerican Hero Author:Van Jones
“If all we are for is black people and white people who like black people, then I have nothing to say to Trump who is only for white people and black people who like him.” PeopleIfsBlackWhiteTrumpBlack People Author:Van Jones
“I've been in situations where I was 'black boy white,' or 'white boy black.' People didn't know, "Is he the whitest black person in the world or is he the blackest white person in the world?"” PeopleKnowsWorldPersonsBlackWhiteSituationBoysBlack PeopleBlack PersonBlack Boy Author:Kevin michael
“I went to Catholic school my entire life. Elementary school was probably my worst time - those are the years when you're figurin' out who you are, and then you've got the added pressure of being on the light-skinned side of things. I've been around - excuse me saying - predominantly white people in Catholic school, who sit around and just talk about black people because they thought they were in the presence of themselves, and they used to talk cool. I felt firsthand the racial prejudice that is still alive today.” PeopleYearsStillsLightTodaySchoolUsedFeltSidesBlackWhiteAliveWorstPrejudicePressureCatholicWho You AreExcuseBlack PeopleLive For TodayExcuse MeElementary SchoolRacial PrejudiceCatholic SchoolWorst Times Author:Kevin michael
“I truly believe slavery is why, as a by-product, we still have a disproportionate amount of black men incarcerated in America. It is an extension of that legacy, and that's not going to start to diminish until black people have a new sense of themselves that isn't tied to slavery and feeling inferior. I think the church can be instrumental in that, in terms of repentance, reconciliation and just being more embracing of each other - not just on Sunday, but in life generally.” PeopleThinkingMenBelieveStillsFeelingsAmericaBlackTermChurchProductsAmountSlaveryLegacySundayRepentanceBlack PeopleTiedJust BeingInferiorsExtensionsDiminishReconciliation Author:David Oyelowo
“We have to concentrate back on: Where is the money going? Where's it been going for the last thirty years? How do we start to redistribute the cake more evenly, and give people opportunities? That's as much about poor white people in West Virginia as it is about poor black people on the Southside of Chicago.” PeopleGivingYearsLastsOpportunityBlackWhitePoorWestThirtyChicagoCakeBlack PeopleVirginiaThirty YearsWest Virginia Author:Irvine Welsh
“In America, the poor have been invisibilised, because obviously this model of success that has been held out to the world must not show the poor, it must not show the condition of black people. It can only the successful ones, basketball players, musicians, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell. But I think the time will come when the Occupy movement will have to somehow formulate something more than just anger.” PeopleThinkingWorldHas BeensShowsAmericaBlackPoorSuccessfulPlayerConditionsMovementBasketballMusicianModelsBlack PeopleRiceBasketball PlayerOccupy Movement Author:Arundhati Roy
“Of course in this age of colorblindness, a time when we have supposedly moved "beyond race," we as a nation would feel very uncomfortable if only black people were sent to jail for drug offenses. We seem comfortable with 90 percent of the people arrested and convicted of drug offenses in some states being African American, but if the figure was 100 percent, the veil of colorblindness would be lost.” PeopleIfsFeelsStatesSeemsWould BeAgeCoursesLostNationsBlackRaceFiguresDrugComfortablePercentMovedAfrican AmericanUncomfortableJailBlack PeopleOffenseVeilsArrested Author:Michelle Alexander
“I think the two issues, racism and chauvinism, are linked. Look at how much weaker was support for U.S. actions in Iraq among black people.” PeopleThinkingLooksTwoActionBlackSupportIssuesRacismIraqBlack PeopleLinkedChauvinism Author:Michael Yates
“The only thing I really feel is necessary is that the black people, not only in Mississippi, will have to actually upset this applecart. What I mean by that is, so many things are under the cover that will have to be swept out and shown to this whole world, not just to America. This thing they say of "the land of the free and the home of the brave" is all on paper. It doesn't really mean anything to us. The only way we can make this thing a reality in America is to do all we can to destroy this system and bring this out to the light that has been under the cover all these years.” PeopleWorldWayFeelsYearsMeanHas BeensWholeHomeRealityLightAmericaBlackLandPaperBraveWhole WorldUpsetBlack PeopleReally MeanMississippiLand Of The Free Author:Fannie Lou Hamer
“There never has been a desire on the part of the government that the struggle of Black people in America should be linked to the struggle of our people in every part of the earth. Every leader that was international in scope and in reach became the target of the government - Paul Robeson, Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Kwame Ture and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Any Black leader who would try to connect us to our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia were seen as a threat and became a target.” PeopleShouldTryingHas BeensGovernmentEarthAmericaDesireBlackLeaderStruggleBrotherKingsThreatInternationalTargetBlack PeopleHonorableAsiaBrothers And SistersLinkedScopeLutherMuhammadElijahElijah MuhammadHonorable Elijah MuhammadDubois Author:Louis Farrakhan
“The conditions that we are suffering force us to address the real issues that affect the life and well-being of the majority of our people. That is why the call for reparations and justice in dealing with the problems of Black people is so relevant now.” PeopleWellsRealProblemSufferingForceBlackJusticeIssuesConditionsMajorityWell BeingAddressesBlack PeopleRelevantReparations Author:Louis Farrakhan
“Our [black people's] path is clear: We refuse to be inferior. We want to be exactly what Allah (God) has desired for us to be and we can't be that in their [white people's] house. We either have to take over their house or go and build a house of our own.” PeopleWantHouseBlackWhitePathClearRefuseBlack PeopleInferiors Author:Louis Farrakhan
“The Nation of Islam was the biggest contributor to the Million Man March, but poor people gave their nickels, dimes and dollars; some wealthy Black people gave money to make that March a success - and every nickel, every dime, every dollar was accounted for.” PeopleMenNationsBlackPoorMillionsDollarsIslamMarchWealthyBlack PeoplePoor PeopleDimesContributorsNickelsNation Of Islam Author:Louis Farrakhan
“When the nuclear weapons were sent to the racist South African government, where a few million white people subjugated more than 13 million black people, it was so they could use them against the Cuban forces that were defending Angola. These things have not been written down but they need to be told as part of the reality of history which should not be distorted the way the historians connected to the power elite tend to do.” PeopleWayNeedsShouldUseRealityGovernmentForceBlackWhiteMillionsWrittenWeaponsSouthConnectedNuclearRacistHistorianBlack PeopleElitesNuclear WeaponsSouth AfricaCubanAngola Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“Growing up the way I did, it was tough being one of only a few black people in the town and in school. What my upbringing got me is never feeling completely safe emotionally. Never knowing when something racial was going to pop off based on how I look. So that's something I've carried with me personally and is reflected in my work.” PeopleWayLooksFeelingsSchoolBlackGrowing UpKnowingGrowingSafeToughTownsPopsBlack PeopleUpbringing Author:Gina Prince-Bythewood
“We have seven and a half times as many people in prison. And we have eight times as many black women in prison now as we did in 1981, when I left the White House. So that's been one of the major concerns I've had as a non-lawyer, to criticize the American justice system, which is highly biased against black people and poor people. And it still is.” PeopleStillsHouseLeftBlackJusticeWhitePoorHalfMajorsConcernPrisonSevenEightLawyerCriticizeWhite HouseBlack PeopleBlack WomenPoor PeopleJustice SystemBiasedHalf TimeAmerican Justice Author:Jimmy Carter
“Barack Obama didn't say "I only want to be the President of Black people," he said "I want to be the President of the United States and have something to say about the United States and my perspective and my lens is going to affect my judgment on everything" and that's the way a Christian should be. I'm going to invade culture and my lens and perspective is going to influence culture just as much as anyone else's.” PeopleWayWantShouldSaidStatesChristianCultureBlackPresidentUnitedUnited StatesInfluencePerspectiveJudgmentBarackBlack PeopleLenses Author:LeCrae
“We're going to start seeing that it's actually less about race and more about class in the future. As much as we complain about the establishment discriminating against black people, we're going to start seeing that more of us are already in the establishment.” PeopleBlackRaceClassSeeingComplainingBlack PeopleEstablishment Author:Pharrell Williams
“Maybe when the President tells you that you should be afraid of Mexicans or Muslims or Jews or black people or gay people or trans people, you'll realize that those are just labels, that underneath it all we're all the same people, we all have the same aspirations, the same hopes, the same desires, that we all share the same values.” PeopleShouldDesireValuesBlackPresidentRealizingShareGayJewLabelsAspirationBlack PeopleTransGay People Author:Reza Aslan
“Certainly, black horror movie fans have, you know, been particularly vocal. I mean, there's the whole Eddie Murphy routine about, you know, black people in a horror movie wouldn't last very long. Right? They just walk in - you hear get out. Too bad we can't stay, baby.” PeopleKnowsMeanLongWholeLastsBlackWalksFansBabyHorrorRoutineBlack PeopleVocalMurphy Author:Jordan Peele
“I don't want the Obama era to be more about symbolism than substance when it comes to black people. I love him, but I love black people even more.” PeopleWantBlackErasSubstanceBlack PeopleSymbolismI Love Him Author:Tavis Smiley
“That is my job as an intellectual, as an extension of my vocation: to engage in a serious reckoning with the present manifestation of both white supremacy, white refusal to acknowledge culpability, and the attempts of black people to re-describe the harm and trauma we've endured, as well as to say afresh what it is that must be done if we are to be conscientious.” PeopleIfsWellsDoneJobsBlackWhiteSeriousIntellectualTraumaHarmAcknowledgeManifestationBlack PeopleExtensionsVocationWhite SupremacyRefusalSupremacyReckoningCulpability Author:Michael Eric Dyson
“Like I tell people they wind up having short term pleasure and long term pain. I'm a tell what Minister Louis Farrakhan said, "Black people ain't poor, they just don't spend wisely" and that's the truth.” PeopleLongSaidPainBlackTermPleasurePoorWindMinistersLong TermBlack PeopleShort Term Author:Mr. T
“As a Christian when I watched the people in Katrina they lost everything. I'm not just speaking about the Black people, I'm talking about White, Chinese, Oriental, whoever lost stuff. My heart went out to 'em. I said as a Christian it would be a sin before God for me to wear my gold around people, flashing it in their face and they don't have nothing. So I said never again would I wear my gold, I want people to know I have a heart of gold and not the gold around my neck.” PeopleKnowsWantHeartSaidWould BeChristianFacesLostStuffBlackSinWhiteTalkingMy HeartGoldChineseNecksEmsBlack PeopleKatrinaLost EverythingHeart Of Gold Author:Mr. T
“I would like to say that whites jumped right behind Malcolm X. They’re makin’ a book about him, it’s required readin’ in all colleges now, and they’re makin’ a movie about him, and projectin’ him as the leader and if you read his book and see the movie that’s comin’ out, it’ll make you hate Elijah Mohammed and the Muslims. Mainly, this is done to turn the black people against the real leader and I’d like to say that this is the way white people rule.” PeopleIfsWayBookRealDoneHateTurnsBlackWhiteBehindsLeaderCollegeBlack PeopleElijah Author:Muhammad Ali
“Everything the black people are doing comes from the Honorable Elijah Mohammed. They are black now, they don't want to be called Negroes. This come from the Honorable Elijah Mohammed.” PeopleWantBlackBlack PeopleHonorableElijah Author:Muhammad Ali
“Black people we've been taught that we will never be free, until some will have to die, some will have to give up wealth, their loved ones, and their health, So, what I'm doin' is for myself and for justice for black people, runnin' will kill it all, it'll make me a coward.” PeopleGivingDiesBlackWealthJusticeTaughtGiving UpCowardBlack PeopleLoved Ones Author:Muhammad Ali
“We black people, as a whole, are at war we'll say with the white power structure. Not physically, but we have definite protests to win the battle.” PeopleWarWholeWinningBlackWhiteBattleStructureProtestBlack PeopleDefiniteWhite Power Author:Muhammad Ali
“Black people ALL are fightin' you all for freedom, justice and equality. One believes that intermarriage is gonna solve it, and 200 years from now we all will be a beautiful cream color. He really believes it. One believe that gittin' some rifles and shootin' up the country is gonna solve it, another believes that education. One day we'll be the president. One believe that we gotta git into the white man's pockets and get all the money.” PeopleMenYearsBelieveCountryBeautifulBlackPresidentJusticeWhiteColorOne DaySolvePocketsBlack PeopleCreamWhite ManRiflesEquality And JusticeIntermarriage Author:Muhammad Ali
“I come from somewhere and from specific black people in the South, including my parents, who built our first school, and rebuilt it after it was burned to the ground. And they used to bake pies and cakes to raise money to keep it going. So, I learned to struggle from a very early way in a way that was truly indigenous to the South.” PeopleSchoolParentBlackStruggleBlack PeopleIndigenous Author:Alice Walker
“I'm very disappointed in Barack Obama. I was very much in support of him in the beginning, but I cannot support war. I cannot support droning. I cannot support capitulating to the banks. I cannot support his caving in to Benjamin Netanyahu. I think many black people support him because they're so happy to have handsome black man in the White House. But it doesn't make me happy if that handsome black man in the White House is betraying all of our traditional values of peace, peoplehood, caring about strangers, feeding the hungry, and not bombing children.” PeopleThinkingMenChildrenWarValuesHouseBlackSupportStrangerCaringHungryBarackDisappointedBlack PeopleBetrayMake Me Happy Author:Alice Walker
“I like seeing things that you don't normally see. Black people are so diverse, we do so many things, we have given so much to this world - and we are constantly giving.” PeopleWorldGivingBlackBlack PeopleDiverse Author:Tichina Arnold
“I'm not saying that things now aren't better for black people. Thank God they're definitely better, but some things are still the same. "Better" is not good enough - it's not. Especially when "better" still means my life is at risk.” PeopleMeanEnoughBlackRiskGood EnoughBlack PeopleThank GodNot Good Enough Author:Titus Kaphar
“We kind of reduce our responsibility to not saying the N-word and to condemning the Klansmen, rather than saying many of our celebrated institutions are systemically racist. Many of our institutions that deal with law enforcement or controlling the bodies of Black people are systemically racist. Many of our educational institutions are systemically racist. Many of our corporate institutions are systemically racist. We don't have those conversations, so things don't change.” PeopleKindBlackResponsibilityEducationalRacistBlack PeopleLaw Enforcement Author:Nate Parker
“Why can't we have fine black restaurants with fine service by black people who always gave good service? Because we thought that is demeaning and it's not, it's a good living.” PeopleBlackBlack PeopleDemeaningGood Service Author:Leah Chase
“We still have a long way to go but if we work together and we work hard, you'll see black people in positions you never thought we'd be in. I thought I would never see a black President.” PeopleLongTogetherBlackPresidentHard WorkWorking TogetherBlack People Author:Leah Chase
“When you talk about "white privilege", you're talking about something systemic. When you're talking about "black privilege" it's something spiritual because we as black people tap into a divine system that a lot of other cultures and races can't tap into and that system allows us to prosper in spite of everything that's been thrown our way from slavery to segregation to mass incarceration. We have a privilege pre-ordained by God that nothing and no one can stop.” PeopleSpiritualCultureBlackDivineSlaverySpiteBlack PeopleSegregationIncarceration Author:Charlamagne Tha God
“It's so Canada. On some level, you laugh, but on another level, it's just depressing. We pride ourselves: We're not like the bad old U.S. where they had segregation, whites-only washrooms and hotels. We think we were the capital of the Underground Railroad, we were the place to where the slaves escaped, we were a much better country. But in fact, some of the black people in Canada at the time said, 'It's actually much easier in the United States because you know which hotels, restaurants, theatres won't let you in because the signs are there. In Canada, you never know.'” PeopleThinkingCountryBlackLaughingPrideSlaveTheatreHotelBlack PeopleDepressingSegregation Author:Constance Backhouse
“We have to stop seeing the skin color. I believe that's the most powerful way to change mentalities and behavior. I had to stop seeing myself in such a limited way. I started doing that as a teenager, and here I am today, because of that. I believe that's the best way to change things for Black people.” PeopleBelieveTodayI BelieveBlackPowerfulBehaviorSkinsTeenagerMost PowerfulBlack PeopleMentality Author:Omar Sy
“As far Chicago, our city was designed with racism in mind, with neighborhoods segregated by expressways and train tracks. Even suburbs, like Highland Park, have long histories of barring Jewish and black people. That history that has always existed has come out of the shadows because of the social and political climate.” PeopleMindLongPoliticalBlackRacismShadowTrainTrackNeighborhoodBlack People Author:Christian Picciolini
“I'll start with the reality. If we're having problems nationally, we're having problems on the state level and then on the local level, what message is that sending to Black people who are not supposed to be intelligent but the grassroots understand? What that means in this time, as in the time of Moses, it means buckle on your boots and shoes and let's get the hell out of here. As the boys said in the movie; it's time to get out.” PeopleMeanProblemRealityBlackBoysHellIntelligentBlack PeopleMoses Author:Louis Farrakhan