“There are restroom facilities for white ladies and colored women, white men and colored men. We stand outside after being served at the same ticket counter instead of sitting on the inside.”

I learned to put my trust in God and to see Him as my strength.

I think when you say you’re happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for.

Knowing what must be done does away with fear.

Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die – the dream of freedom and peace.

I will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be.

I had decided that I would not go anywhere with a piece of paper in my hand asking white folks for any favors. I had made that decision myself, as an individual.

Nothing in the Golden Rule says that others will treat us as we have treated them. It only says that we must treat others in a way that we would want to be treated.

I want to be treated like a human being.

If I stayed angry at other people, I would miss finding friends among those I was angry with.

Why do you all push us around?

As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do.

I was a person with dignity and self-respect, and I should not set my sights lower than anybody else just because I was black.

As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.

There is work to do; that is why I cannot stop or sit still.

We didn’t have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next.

I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.

A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies.

There is a terrific apprehension among some people that blacks will take over the sport… It will create problems because their behavior, speech and dress is just a completely different culture.

Seven out of 10 black faces you see on television are athletes. The black athlete carries the image of the black community. He carries the cross, in a way, until blacks make inroads in other dimensions.

Don’t judge me. You wanna judge me, put on a black gown and get a gavel. Get in line with the rest of them that’s about to judge me. I got court dates every other month. It’s me against the world – that’s how I feel.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

If ever America undergoes great revolutions, they will be brought about by the presence of the black race on the soil of the United States – that is to say, they will owe their origin not to the equality but to the inequality of conditions.

My mom wanted to make sure I was prepared to grow up with Black skin in America.

I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.