96 Black History Month Quotes Celebrating Heritage and Resilience
February is a time to honor the achievements and recognize the struggles of the Black community.
That’s why we have compiled a list of the best Black History Month quotes for your next post.
And if you’re looking for short, powerful quotes for Instagram, we also have you covered.
Now go ahead and browse through to find your favorite.
Black History Month Quotes
“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” – Rosa Parks
“Have a vision. Be demanding.” – Colin Powell
“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” – Mae Jemison
“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” – W.E.B. Du Bois
“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” – Thurgood Marshall
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass
“Hating people because of their color is wrong. It doesn’t matter which color does the hating.” – Muhammad Ali
“Black history is part of American history, and it should be treated as such.” – Janelle Monáe
“What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of race hate.” – Carter G. Woodson
“Education is for improving the lives of others and leaving your community better than you found it.” – Marian Wright Edelman
“The African-American experience is one of the most important threads in the American tapestry.” – Bill Frist
“Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us.” – Susan L. Taylor
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes
“Just don’t give up what you’re trying to do.” – Ella Fitzgerald
“Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.” – Denzel Washington
“The future rewards those who press on.” – Barack Obama
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person.” – Barack Obama
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” – Shirley Chisholm
“Have a belief in yourself that is bigger than anyone’s disbelief.” – August Wilson
“Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion.” – Muhammad Ali
“Life is not a spectator sport.” – Jackie Robinson
“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go.” – Langston Hughes
“You may not control all the events that happen to you…” – Maya Angelou
“History is a people’s memory…” – Malcolm X
“The mere imparting of information is not education.” – Carter G. Woodson
“Success is measured by obstacles overcome.” – Booker T. Washington
“Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – Coretta Scott King
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change…” – Angela Y. Davis
“Freedom is never given; it is won.” – Frederick Douglass
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington
“Each person must live their life as a model for others.” – Rosa Parks
“We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama
“The thing about black history is that the truth is far more complex than anything you could make up.” – Henry Louis Gates Jr.
“For children, diversity must be real, not symbolic.” – John Ridley
“We must never forget that Black History is American History.” – Yvette Clarke
“Defining myself, instead of being defined by others, is one of the hardest challenges.” – Carol Moseley Braun
“Laundry is the only thing that should ever be separated by color.” – Author Unknown
Note: kept as cultural quote, attribution unclear.
“One important key to success is self-confidence. A key to self-confidence is preparation.” – Arthur Ashe
“One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you cannot utter.” – James Earl Jones
“One thing is clear to me: we must accept people who are different from ourselves.” – Barbara Jordan
“Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously but not themselves.” – Colin Powell
“The battles that matter most are the ones within yourself.” – Jesse Owens
“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit.” – Wilma Rudolph
“Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to realizing them.” – Earl G. Graves Sr.
“Truth is powerful, and it prevails.” – Sojourner Truth
“I can accept failure. I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
Inspiring Black History Month Quotes
“If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go.” – James Baldwin
“Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism.” – Oprah Winfrey
“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines.” – Shirley Chisholm
“Service is the rent we pay for being.” – Marian Wright Edelman
“Character is power.” – Booker T. Washington
“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” – Rosa Parks
“If you fall behind, run faster.” – Jesse Jackson
“Change is not easy, but it is possible.” – Barack Obama
“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another.” – Ella Baker
“Education is the passport to the future.” – Malcolm X
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” – Jackie Robinson
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker
“Hope is a muscle that allows us to connect.” – Angela Y. Davis
“Never underestimate the power of dreams.” – Coretta Scott King
“We all require and want respect.” – Aretha Franklin
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin
“You can’t separate peace from freedom.” – Malcolm X
“I believe in human beings, and that all human beings deserve respect.” – Ella Baker
“Greatness comes from standing for something bigger than yourself.” – Colin Powell
“You have to be taught to be second class.” – Marian Anderson
“We are stronger together than we are apart.” – Walter Payton
“Do the best you can until you know better.” – Maya Angelou
“Success is to be measured not so much by position as by obstacles overcome.” – Booker T. Washington
“Each of us has a responsibility to shape a better world.” – Thurgood Marshall
“History has shown us that courage can be contagious.” – Michelle Obama
“Don’t wait for opportunity. Create it.” – George Washington Carver
“What we do now echoes through generations.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
