I compiled a list of quotes to celebrate Black History Month. This compilation of 21 quotes (one for each weekday of the month of February) represents people from history, as well as contemporary figures who’ve had an impact on society.
In 1976, President Ford said, “In celebrating Black History Month, we can seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” During the month of February, we take the time to recognize and celebrate the achievements by black Americans. It is a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. Black history IS American history. The story belongs to all of us.
Each day through the month of February, we will be sharing a quote by an accomplished African American, from history, entertainment, and sports. We hope you are inspired by them!
21 Quotes to Celebrate Black History
- “You can only become accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”
- Maya Angelou, author and poet
- “If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
- Michael Jordan, basketball player
- “When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”
- George Washington Carver (African-American educator, scientist and inventor)
- “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”
- Booker T. Washington (African-American educator, author and orator)
- “We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans – because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings.”
- Maya Angelou, author and poet
- “The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself — the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us — that’s where it’s at.”
- Jesse Owens, 4 time Olympic Gold Medal winner, track and field, 1936
- “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.”
- Oprah Winfrey, talk show host and philanthropist
- “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”
- Jackie Robinson, 1st African American Major League Baseball player in modern history
- “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
- Malcolm X, minister and human rights activist
- “I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.”
- Rosa Parks, the first lady of civil rights
- “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
- Malcolm X, minister and human rights activist
- “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.”
- Venus Williams, all time greatest female tennis player
- “When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do.”
- Toni Morrison, author
- “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
- James Baldwin, playwright and poet
- “Many and most moments go by with us hardly aware of their passage. But love and hate and fear cause time to snag you, to drag you down like a spider’s web holding fast to a doomed fly’s wings.”
- Walter Mosley, author
- “Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.”
- Alice Walker, author
- “Whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free . . . your true self comes out.”
- Tina Turner, musician
- “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
- Maya Angelou, poet and author
- “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.”
- Oprah Winfrey. Talk show host and philanthropist
- “The times may have changed, but the people are still the same. We’re still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings.”
- Halle Berry, actress
- “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
As teachers, we’re all in the same boat. There is never enough time in the classroom. We have our state standards to teach, state testing to prepare for, and that pretty much sucks every last minute from the day.