February is Black History Month and we've rounded up 120 inspiring Black History Month quotes from civil rights icons including Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois. These powerful public figures have left a mark on our country with their insightful words, historic speeches and more.The month honors African American people’s rich range of experiences, struggles and achievements throughout history and into the modern day.Each year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)—the organization that founded Black History Month—provides a new theme for the month. Last year’s theme was “Black Health and Wellness” and the theme for February 2025 is "African Americans and Labor."As the ASALH website says this theme "focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds—free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary—intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Indeed, work is at the very center of much of Black history and culture. Be it the traditional agricultural labor of enslaved Africans that fed Low Country colonies, debates among Black educators on the importance of vocational training, self-help strategies and entrepreneurship in Black communities, or organized labor’s role in fighting both economic and social injustice, Black people’s work has been transformational throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora. The 2025 Black History Month theme, 'African Americans and Labor,' sets out to highlight and celebrate the potent impact of this work."In honor of Black History Month, we’ve rounded up 120 inspiring quotes from civil rights icons as well as words of wisdom from inspiring modern figures including Viola Davis, Janelle Monáe and Shonda Rhimes. These public figures have left a mark on our country with their insightful words, historic speeches, powerful writing and performances, and more.To celebrate Black History Month, here are 120 quotes to remember.
120 Black History Month Quotes
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1. "Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations." —Dr. Mae Jemison, first African-American female astronaut2. “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.3. "The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression."—W.E.B. Du Bois4. "In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute."—Thurgood Marshall, the first African American U.S. Supreme Court member
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5. "Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated." —Coretta Scott King6. “Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us.”—Susan L. Taylor, journalist7. “Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.”—Carol Moseley-Braun, politician and lawyer8. “One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.”—Franklin Thomas, activist, philanthropist, and former president of the Ford Foundation9. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”—Desmond Tutu10. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”—Langston HughesRelated: Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes11. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”—Frederick Douglass
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12. “The time is always right to do what is right.” —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
13. “Have a vision. Be demanding.” —Colin Powell
14. “Freedom is never given; it is won.” —A. Philip Randolph, civil rights activist
15. “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
16. "We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort."—Jesse Owens, world record-setting Olympic athlete
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18. "Just don't give up what you're trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." —Ella Fitzgerald
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21. "We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers. Our abundance has brought us neither peace of mind nor serenity of spirit." —Martin Luther King, Jr.
23. "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” —Nelson Mandela
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25. "Truth is powerful and it prevails." —Sojourner Truth
26. "I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." —Michael Jordan
28. "Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to striving to realize it.” —Earl G. Graves, Sr.
30. “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history." —Morgan Freeman
32. ”I swear to the Lord I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me.” —Langston Hughes
33. “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
35. “I’m not quite sure what freedom is, but I know damn well what it ain’t. How have we gotten so silly, I wonder.” —Assata Shakur
37. "During Black History Month, I’m reminded yet again of the ways that the struggle for civil rights is interwoven with the struggle for workers’ rights.” —Tom Perez
39. “Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.” —Ola Joseph
41. “One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.” —Michelle Obama
43. "You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it." —Malcolm X
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46. “Have a vision of excellence, a dream of success, and work like hell.” —Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook
48. “Today we know with certainty that segregation is dead. The only question remaining is how costly will be the funeral.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
50. “I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.” —Rosa Parks
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53. “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” —Marcus Garvey
55. “If the only time you think of me as a scientist is during Black History Month, then I must not be doing my job as a scientist.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson
57. “When we’re talking about diversity, it’s not a box to check. It is a reality that should be deeply felt and held and valued by all of us.” —Ava DuVernay
59. “As black women, we’re always given these seemingly devastating experiences — experiences that could absolutely break us. But what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly. What we do as black women is take the worst situations and create from that point.” —Viola Davis
60. “Dreams are lovely but they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.” —Shonda Rhimes
62. “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” —Shirley Chisholm
64. “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” —Muhammad Ali
66. “We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right.” —Aretha Franklin
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69. “Black history isn't a separate history. This is all of our history, this is American history, and we need to understand that. It has such an impact on kids and their values and how they view black people.” —Karyn Parsons
71. “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
73. “There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made.” —Michelle Obama
75. “If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.” —Carl Lewis
77. “Don’t let anything stop you. There will be times when you’ll be disappointed, but you can’t stop.” —Sadie T. M. Alexander
79. “Be as you are and hope that it’s right.” —Dizzy Gillespie
81. “If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go.” —James Baldwin
83. “When I look at the future, it’s so bright it burns my eyes.” —Oprah Winfrey
85. "You are your best thing." —Toni Morrison
87. "I need to see my own beauty and to continue to be reminded that I am enough, that I am worthy of love without effort, that I am beautiful, that the texture of my hair and that the shape of my curves, the size of my lips, the color of my skin, and the feelings that I have are all worthy and okay." —Tracee Ellis Ross
89. "Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am.” —Janelle Monáe
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92. “Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.” —Kwame Nkrumah
94. “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” —Ida B. Wells
96. “Make a difference about something other than yourselves.” —Toni Morrison
98. “God’s time [Emancipation]is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens; He gave me the strength in my limbs; He meant I should be free.” —Harriet Tubman
100. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
102. "Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us." —Wilma Rudolph
104. "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." —Robert F. Kennedy
105. "In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress." —Booker T. Washington
107. "One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." —James Earl Jones
109. "Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." —Martin Luther King Jr.
111. “There is no vaccine for racism.” —Kamala Harris
113. “We will all, at some point, encounter hurdles to gaining access and entry, moving up and conquering self-doubt; but on the other side is the capacity to own opportunity and tell our own story.” —Stacey Abrams
115. “The very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” —Toni Morrison
117. “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.” —John Lewis
119. “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.” —Angela Davis
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