From the streets, the pulpit, and the classroom, African American voices keep asking what courage and love look like in the face of cruelty. Martin Luther King, Jr. posed a question that still tests the heart: “Are you able to accept blows without retaliation?” These quotations gather strength, tenderness, faith, and fierce honesty from those who kept walking toward freedom.

There are many brave African-Americans. They need to be inspired by those of us who have a platform. ~ Maxine Waters

Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it allows one to survive, and better than that, to thrive with passion, compassion, and style. ~ Maya Angelou

Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice. ~ Ray Charles

A black hen lays a white egg. ~ French Proverb

There isn't a certain time we should set aside to talk about God. God is part of our every waking moment. ~ Marva Collins

Be black, shine, aim high. ~ Leontyne Price

Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise. ~ Alice Walker

God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed. ~ African Proverb

There is no labor a person does that is undignified, if they do it right. ~ Bill Cosby

The powers of single black men flash here and there like falling stars, and die sometimes before the world has rightly gauged their brightness. ~ W.E.B. Du Bois

God has blessed you when he lets you believe in somebody. ~ Billie Holiday

They think because they hold us in infernal chains we wish to be white, or of their color, but they are dreadfully deceived; we wish to be just as it pleased our Creator to have made us. ~ David Walker

People who make a living doing something they don't enjoy wouldn't even be happy with a one-day work week. ~ Duke Ellington

All racists are irresponsible. ~ James Baldwin

As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them. ~ Maya Angelou