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Black History Month is not only a time to reflect on the accomplishments of our past heroes, but it’s also a time to contemplate their words. Quotes from Black history can be a great way to personalize yourself with some of the most prominent figures in American history. 

Barack Obama once said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”  

These words give you a better perspective into the mind of our former president. He was the epitome of change; America’s first Black president. Obama’s story is a motivation for even the common Black American. He is proof that no barrier can stand in the way of a driven mind. 

Obama isn’t the only Black hero whose words can serve as inspiration whenever we may need it. Below is a list of Black history quotes that Black people should read during Black History Month. The mind is an important muscle that needs to be flexed from time to time. 

“I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.” – Muhammad Ali

“We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.” – Barack Obama

“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” – Shirley Chisholm

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; Knowing what must be done does away with fear.”Rosa Parks

“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” – Malcolm X

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go.”James Baldwin

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” – Booker T. Washington

“I’m very proud to be Black, but Black is not all I am. That’s my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it’s not all of who I am, nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.” – Denzel Washington

“What the people want is simple. They want an America as good as its promise.” – Barbara Jordan

Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.” John Lewis

You can kill a man, but you can’t kill an idea.” – Medgar Evers

“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” – W.E.B. Du Bois

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” Desmond Tutu

SEE ALSO:

Columbus Police Show Off Black History Month-Themed Police Car With Reportedly Fake MLK Quote

Tone-Deaf Miami Cops Unveil Black History Month-Themed Police Car

The post Quotes You Should Read During Black History Month appeared first on NewsOne.

Quotes You Should Read During Black History Month  was originally published on newsone.com