A Memory of June | Claude McKay, Tuskegee University

When June comes dancing o’er the death of May, With scarlet roses tinting her green breast, And mating thrushes ushering in her day, And Earth on tiptoe for her golden guest, I always see the evening when we met– The first of June baptized in tender rain– And walked home through the wide streets, gleaming … Continue reading →

oh antic God | Lucille Clifton, Howard University

oh antic God return to me my mother in her thirties leaned across the front porch the huge pillow of her breasts pressing against the rail summoning me in for bed. I am almost the dead woman’s age times two. I can barely recall her song the scent of her hands though her wild hair … Continue reading →

On Character | Booker T. Washington, Hampton University 1875

Character is power. Booker T. Washington, Educator, Orator, Author, College President Continue reading →

On Humanity | Thurgood Marshall, Lincoln University ’30

In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute. Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993). Lawyer, Civil Rights Activist, Associate Justice of US Supreme Court Continue reading →

On Life | Nikki Giovanni, Fisk University ’67

I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try. Nikki Giovanni, Poet, Activist, Educator Continue reading →

Creation | James Weldon Johnson, Atlanta University 1894

And God stepped out on space, And he looked around and said: I’m lonely– I’ll make me a world. And far as the eye of God could see Darkness covered everything, Blacker than a hundred midnights Down in a cypress swamp. Then God smiled, And the light broke, And the darkness rolled up on one … Continue reading →

On Dignity | Booker T. Washington, Hampton University 1875

No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. Booker T. Washington, Educator, Orator, Author, College President Continue reading →

On Running | Oprah Winfrey, Tennessee State University ’86

Use what you have to run toward your best – that’s how I now live my life. Oprah Winfrey, Media Mogul, Talk Show Host, Actress, Philanthropist, Continue reading →

On Willingness | Nikki Giovanni, Fisk University ’67

Nothing is easy to the unwilling. Nikki Giovanni, Poet, Activist, Educator Continue reading →

On Service | Marian Wright Edelman, Spelman College ’60

Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time. Marian Wright Eldeman, Lawyer, Activist, Founder and CEO of Children’s Defense Fund Continue reading →