“Anything that could be conceived of that would separate black people from white people was devised and codified by someone in some state in the South. There were colored and white waiting rooms everywhere, from doctor's offices to the bus stations, as people may already know.” PeopleKnowsMayStatesWaitingBlackWhiteRoomsOfficeDoctorsSouthStationsBusBlack PeopleWaiting Rooms Author:Isabel Wilkerson
“Where some may see flat, static narratives, I see a spectrum of tonal gradations and realities. What I am creating is literally black portraiture with ballpoint pen ink. I'm looking for that in-between state in an individual where the overarching definition is lost. Skin as geography is the terrain I expand by emphasizing the specificity of blackness, where an individual’s subjectivity, various realities and experiences can be drawn onto the diverse topography of the epidermis. From there, the possibilities of portraying a fully-fledged person are endless.” MayPersonsStatesRealityIndividualLostBlackPossibilityCreatingSkinsDefinitionsVariousEndlessNarrativeFlatsPensDiverseInkSpectrumGeographyStaticBlacknessSubjectivityTerrainPortrayingPortraitureSpecificityTopographyBallpoint Pens Author:Toyin Odutola
“Really, an historic night last night. You may have heard, Barack Obama will be the first black president of the United States of America. ... Obama is also the first Democrat to receive more than 50 percent of the vote since Jimmy Carter, the first senator to be elected since Jack Kennedy, the first Muslim to be ... I said too much.” FirstsMaySaidStatesLastsAmericaNightBlackPresidentUnitedUnited StatesToo MuchHeardPercentVoteDemocratBarackSenatorsUnited States Of AmericaHistoricLast NightJimmyCarterJack Kennedy Author:Jon Stewart
“The spirit of Ubuntu, that once led Haiti to emerge as the first independent black nation in 1804, helped Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador attain liberty, and inspired our forefathers to shed their blood for the United States' independence, cannot die. Today, this spirit of solidarity must and will empower all of us to rebuild Haiti.” FirstsStatesTodaySpiritDiesNationsBlackUnitedLibertyUnited StatesBloodIndependentIndependenceInspiredEmpoweringShedSolidarityUbuntuHaitiForefathersColombiaVenezuelaEcuador Author:Jean-Bertrand Aristide
“I was all-state in four sports in New Jersey, but sometimes I couldn't get served at a restaurant two blocks from my high school. There were no job opportunities then... the only thing a black youth could aspire to be was a bellboy or a pullman or an elevator operator, or, maybe, a teacher. There was a time when all we had was black baseball.” TwoSometimesStatesSchoolJobsOpportunitySportsBlackTeacherFourYouthHigh SchoolBaseballBlockRestaurantsAspireJerseyNew JerseyElevatorsOperatorsAll StateJob OpportunitiesBlack Youth Author:Monte Irvin
“I'd been on a road trip right out of college, with a buddy of mine. It was uneventful. We didn't get laid. Although one time it was about 800 degrees and we were in Texas. We had shorts on and nothing else and somehow a motorcycle cop pulls up beside me and says, 'Come on, get on it, get on, go, go, go!' So I speeded up and it turns out we're in a huge state funeral. There are about 40 black Cadillacs in a row and then a green van called Mr Greenjeans, with two guys with no clothes in it.” TwoStatesGuyTurnsBlackMinesCollegeHugeDegreesClothesGreenTexasFuneralOne TimeCopVansBuddyMotorcycleShortsRoad TripGetting LaidCadillacsPull UpsTwo Guys Author:John Travolta
“The United States has written the white history of the United States. It now needs to write the black, Latino, Indian, Asian and Caribbean history of the United States.” NeedsWritingStatesBlackWhiteUnitedUnited StatesWrittenIndianAsianLatinoCaribbean Author:Carlos Fuentes
“In my judgment, the slogan "black power" and what has been associated with it has set the civil rights movement back considerably in the United States over the period of the last several months.” Has BeensStatesLastsBlackUnitedUnited StatesRightsMovementMonthsPeriodsJudgmentCivil RightsSlogansCivil Rights MovementBlack Power Author:Robert Kennedy
“The most formidable of all the ills that threaten the future of the Union arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory; and in contemplating the cause of the present embarrassments, or the future dangers of the United States, the observer is invariably led to this as a primary fact.” StatesFactsCausesBlackUnitedUnited StatesDangerUnionsPopulationArisePrimariesTerritoryContemplatingObserversEmbarrassmentFormidable Book:Democracy in America Source: Democracy in America
“In the United States of North America, every independent movement of the workers was paralysed so long as slavery disfigured a part of the Republic. Labour cannot emancipate itself in the white skin where in the black it is branded.” LongStatesAmericaBlackWhiteUnitedUnited StatesMovementSkinsIndependentSlaveryWorkersLabourRepublicNorth AmericaBrandedWhite Skin Book:Capital: A Critique of Political Economy - The Process of Capitalist Production Source: Capital: A Critique of Political Economy - The Process of Capitalist Production
“Rep. James Clyburn, the state's only black congressman -- controls 20 percent to 25 percent of the primary vote.” StatesBlackPercentVotePrimariesCongressman Author:Jim Clyburn
“I don't think that the United States are ready for a presidency as the one of Obama, at least because he would be the first black president.” ThinkingFirstsStatesWould BeBlackPresidentUnitedUnited StatesReadyPresidency Author:Gianfranco Fini