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 →

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 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 →

Before you knew you owned it | Alice Walker, Spelman College

Expect nothing. Live frugally On surprise. become a stranger To need of pity Or, if compassion be freely Given out Take only enough Stop short of urge to plead Then purge away the need. Wish for nothing larger Than your own small heart Or greater than a star; Tame wild disappointment With caress unmoved and … Continue reading →

On Growth | Alice Walker, Spelman College

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow. Alice Walker, Author, Poet, Activist, Continue reading →

A Liberating Black People’s Prayer for Justice & Peace | Frances Cress Welsing, Howard University College of Medicine ’62

  Thou who are Blacker                                                                                                     … Continue reading →

On Discrimination | Zora Neale Hurston, Howard University

Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me. Zora Neale Hurston, Author, Folklorist, Anthropologist Continue reading →