99 Black History Quotes To Start 2023

2023 is upon which means a fresh new beginning to life, work, health, and spirituality. We know how hard it us for us to set our goals at the beginning of the year let alone stick to them for the rest of the year.

As with all things, perseverance is key and we want to see you persevere in 2023. Leave all the negativity and failures in 2022 and look forward to a rewarding future in 2023.

If you are looking for black history month instagram captions, look no further! Here are 99 motivating black history quotes to keep your blackness empowered and motivated each and everyday of 2022.

1. “The black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.” - Marcus Garve
   
   
2. “Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy- but mysterious.”  - Yohji Yamamoto
   
   
3. “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” - Dr. Mae Jemison
   
   
4. “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.
   
   
5. “The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” - W.E.B. Du Bois
   
   
6. “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” - Thurgood Marshall
   
   
7. Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” - Coretta Scott King
   
   
8. “Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us.” - Susan L. Taylor, journalist
   
   
9. “Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.” - Carol Moseley-Braun
   
   
10. “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
    
    

1. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” - Desmond Tutu
   
   
2. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” - Langston Hughes
   
   
3. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” - Frederick Douglass
   
   
4. “If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” - Maya Angelou
   
   
5. “Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it and you’ll start believing in it.” - Jesse Owens
   
   
6. “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.” - Oprah Winfrey
   
   
7. “You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” - Michelle Obama
   
   
8. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” - Harriet Tubman
   
   
9. “What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming.” - Muhammad Ali
   
   
10. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” - Rosa Parks
    
    
11. “The secret of life is to have no fear; it’s the only way to function.” - Stokely Carmichael
    
    
12. “Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.” - Diana Ross
    
    
13. “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.” - Langston Hughes
    
    
14. “Yes We Can.” - Barack Obama
    
    
15. “We must never forget that Black History is American History. The achievements of African Americans have contributed to our nation’s greatness.” - Yvette Clarke
    
    
16. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” - Frederick Douglass
    
    
17. “Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us.” - Susan L. Taylor
    
    
18. “The time is always right to do what is right.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
    
    
19. “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
    
    
20. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” - Langston Hughes
    
    
21. “In the end, it's not about finding policies that work; it’s about forging consensus, and fighting cynicism, and finding the will to make change.” - Barack Obama
    
    
22. “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” - Dr. Mae Jemison
    
    
23.  “It’s just like when you’ve got some coffee that’s too black, which means it’s too strong.  What do you do? You integrate it with cream, you make it weak. But if you pour too much cream in it, you won’t even know you ever had coffee.  It used to be hot, it becomes cool. It used to be strong, it becomes weak. It used to wake you up, now it puts you to sleep.” - Malcolm X
    
    
24. “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” - Marcus Garvey
    
    
25. “Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to striving to realize it.” - Earl G. Graves, Sr.
    
    
26. “You can never know where you are going unless you know where you have been.” - Amelia Boynton Robinson
    
    
27. “For I am my mother’s daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart.” - Mary McLeod Bethune
    
    
28. “Won’t it be wonderful when black history and Native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history.” - Maya Angelou
    
    
29. “We may have different religions, different languages and different colored skin, but we all belong to the human race” - Kofi Anan
    
    
30. “Our responsibility as citizens is to address the inequalities and injustices that linger, and we must secure our birthright freedoms for all people. As we mark the 40th year of National African American History Month, let us reflect on the sacrifices and contributions made by generations of African Americans, and let us resolve to continue our march toward a day when every person knows the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” - Barack Obama
    
    

1. “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.” - Morgan Freeman
   
   
2. “The African race is a rubber ball. The harder you dash it to the ground, the higher it will rise.” - African Proverb
   
   
3. “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” - Frederick Douglass
   
   
4. “It’s important for us to also understand that the phrase 'Black Lives Matter' simply refers to the notion that there’s a specific vulnerability for African Americans that needs to be addressed. It’s not meant to suggest that other lives don’t matter. It’s to suggest that other folks aren’t experiencing this particular vulnerability.” - Barack Obama
   
   
5. “I swear to the Lord I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me.” - Langston Hughes
   
   
6. “Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.” - Carol Moseley-Braun
   
   
7. “Black people have always been America’s wilderness in search of a promised land.” - Cornel West
   
   
8. “There is no Negro problem.  The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough, honor enough, patriotism enough, to live up to their own constitution.” - Frederick Douglass
   
   
9. “Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.” - Barbara Jordan
   
   
10. “If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves and allow those responsible to salve their conscience by believing that they have our acceptance and concurrence.  We should, therefore, protest openly everything… that smacks of discrimination or slander.” - Mary McLeod Bethune
    
    
11. “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
    
    
12. “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.
    
    
13. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” - Harriet Tubman
    
    
14. “We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history.  What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.” - Carter Woodson
15. “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
    
    
16. “I'm here to say we must reject such despair. I'm here to insist that we are not as divided as we seem, and I know that because I know America. I know how far we've come against impossible odds.” - Barack Obama
    
    
17. “I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or rat in a trap.  I had already determined to sell my life as early as possible if attacked. I felt if I could take one lyncher with me, this would even up the score a little bit.” - Ida B. Wells
    
    
18. “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
    
    
19. “We are the heirs of a past of rope, fire, and murder. I for one am not ashamed of this past. My shame is for those who became so inhuman that they could inflict this torture upon us.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
    
    
20. “There comes a time when people get tired of being plunged into the abyss of exploitation and nagging injustice.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
    
    
21. “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.” - Malcolm X
    
    
22.  “Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” - George Washington Carver
    
    
23. “Can we see in each other a common humanity, a shared dignity, and recognize how our different experiences have shaped us?” - Barack Obama
    
    
24. “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything.” - Harriet Tubman
    
    
25. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” - Barack Obama
    
    
26.  “I knew then and I know now, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it.” — Claudette Colvin
    
    
27. “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
    
    
28. “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
    
    
29. “With an open heart, we can abandon the overheated rhetoric and the oversimplification that reduces whole categories of our fellow Americans not just to opponents, but to enemies.” — Barack Obama
    
    
30. “Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.  I rise. I rise. I rise.” — Maya Angelou
    
    
31. “When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” — Audre Lorde
    
    
32. “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you to go on in spite of all.  And so today I still have a dream.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
    
    
33. “Go to work! Go to work in the morn of a new creation… until you have… reached the height of self-progress, and from that pinnacle bestow upon the world a civilization of your own.” — Marcus Garvey
    
    
34. “Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.” — Ola Joseph
    
    
35. “Freedom is never given; it is won.” — A. Philip Randolph
36. “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
    
    
37. “Character is power.” — Booker T. Washington
    
    
38. “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
    
    
39. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
    
    
40. “I believe our sorrow can make us a better country. I believe our righteous anger can be transformed into more justice and more peace.” — Barack Obama
    
    
41. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” — Mother Theresa
    
    
42. “Love is not a color. Character is not a shade of skin.” — Unknown
    
    
43. “Life's most persistent and urgent question is 'What are you doing for others?'“ — Martin Luther King Jr.
    
    
44. “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”  — Frederick Douglass​
    
    
45. “Before we start talking about genetic differences, you gotta come up with a system where there’s equal opportunity. Then we can have that conversation.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
    
    
46. “No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they'd die for.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
    
    
47. “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” — Maya Angelou
    
    
48. “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​
    
    
49. “The soul that is within me no man can degrade.”  — Frederick Douglass​
    
    
50. “To serve, you only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
    
    
51. “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X​
    
    
52. “You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” — Malcolm X​
    
    
53. “Too often we underestimate the power of touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn life around.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
    
    
54. “While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.” — Maya Angelou
    
    
55. “I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
    
    
56. “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.”  — Frederick Douglass​
    
    
57. “Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.” ― Michael Crichton
    
    
58. “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.” — Maya Angelou
    
    
59. “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.” — Martin