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Black Quotes

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Black Quotes

“By dismantling the narrow politics of racial identity and selective self-interest, by going beyond 'black' and 'white,' we may construct new values, new institutions and new visions of an America beyond traditional racial categories and racial oppression.”

Source: Beyond Black and White: Transforming African-American Politics

“Those who first invented and then named the constellations were storytellers. Tracing an imaginary line between a cluster of stars gave them an image and an identity. The stars threaded on that line were like events threaded on a narrative. Imagining the constellations did not of course change the stars, nor did it change the black emptiness that surrounds them. What it changed was the way people read the night sky.”

Source: And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos

“As a Black lesbian feminist comfortable with the many different ingredients of my identity, and a woman committed to racial and sexual freedom from oppression, I find I am constantly being encouraged to pluck out some one aspect of myself and present this as the meaningful whole, eclipsing or denying the other parts of self. But this is a destructive and fragmenting way to live.”

Way Different Self Whole Black Identity Acceptance Comfortable Aspect Committed Feminist Sexuality Meaningful Oppression Destructive Ingredients Way To Live Pluck

Author:Audre Lorde

“I am a Black Lesbian Feminist Warrior Poet Mother, stronger for all my identities, and I am indivisible.”

Mother Black Identity Poet Stronger Feminist Warrior Indivisible

Author:Audre Lorde

“I feel that sometimes, holding yourself as black, saying that is your sole identity, can sometimes stand in your way of being a member of the humanity of man, being a member of the family of the divine.”

Men Way Feels Sometimes Humanity Black Identity Divine Members Sole

Author:Giancarlo Esposito

“When I was growing up, Forest Park was full of integrated families. It was amazing. One my best friends was Vietnamese. Another one was half-Mexican, half-black. Another one was from Colombia. Another one was born in the U.S., but his mom was from Germany and spoke with a German accent. So we all had multiple identities.”

Black Born Half Growing Up Growing Identity Mom Forests Germany Parks Spokes Multiple Accents My Best Friend Mexican Integrated Colombia Vietnamese Multiple Identities

Author:Dinaw Mengestu

“We black women are the single group in the West intact. And anybody can see we're pretty shaky. We are, however (all praises), the only group that derives its identity from itself.”

Black Groups Identity Praise West Black Women

Author:Nikki Giovanni

“The legacies that parents and church and teachers left to my generation of Black children were priceless but not material: a living faith reflected in daily service, the discipline of hard work and stick-to-itiveness, and a capacity to struggle in the face of adversity.”

“As blacks, we need not be afraid that encouraging moral development, a conscience and guilt will prevent social action. Black children without the ability to feel a normal amount of guilt will victimize their parents, relatives and community first. They are unlikely to be involved in social action to improve the black community. Their self-centered personalities will cause them to look out for themselves without concern for others, black or white.”

“I think that hip-hop should be spelled with a capital "H," and as one word. It's the name of our black people culture, and it's the name of our identity and consciousness. I think hip-hop is not a product, but a culture. I think rap is a product, but when hip-hop becomes a product, that's slavery, because you're talking about people's souls. To me, that's the biggest problem.”

People Thinking Should Soul Problem Culture Names Black Consciousness Talking Identity Products Slavery Hip Hop Rap Hips Hops Black People One Word

Author:KRS-One

“Production of identity is a resistance element, an aggressive element. Both a refusal and an affirmation and an assertion, and certainly, we in Jamaica were talking about black art. And the idea that there is a role for art in the civil rights revolution and in the successor to the civil rights revolution.”

Art Ideas Black Talking Roles Rights Identity Revolution Elements Productions Resistance Civil Rights Aggressive Affirmation Refusal Assertion Successors Jamaica Black Art

Author:Mark McMorris

“In the time just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when Perfidia opens, we were pre-psychologized. There were no concepts of identity, no politics of victimization. Reparation wasn't in the language. Nobody thought about giving the great grandchildren of black slaves so much as $1.98. And all of a sudden the bombs hit, interventionism versus isolationism became a dead issue, and it was us-versus-them in a heartbeat.”

Giving Language Black Issues Identity Concepts Slave Bombs Pearls Grandchildren Versus Heartbeat Harbors Bombing Reparations Victimization Great Grandchildren Isolationism Interventionism

Author:James Ellroy

“When I was a teenager, black pride became newly popular again. Suddenly a lot of black people were wearing the fake kente cloth and red black and green and Bob Marley. That was sort of my window into finding my own identity as a black person.”

People Persons Black My Own Identity Pride Findings Red Window Green Teenager Fake Black People Bob Black Person Marley Black Pride

Author:W. Kamau Bell

“No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women... When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.”

People Men America Black White Existence Focus Groups Identity Black People Black Women

Book:Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism

Source: Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism

“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.”

Ifs Giving Feels Writing Looks Black Walks Effort Doubt Air Streets Honest Identity Hair Giving Up Being Honest No Doubt Viewers Afros Anglo Saxon

Author:Jami Floyd