"You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man."

Frederick Douglass – “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

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“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"

Langston Hughes – “Harlem"

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“I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes."

Oprah Winfrey – “Up Close and Down Home" by Nellie Bly

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“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 – “Up From Slavery"

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“The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that’s where it’s at."

Jesse Owens – “Blackthink"

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“You can’t win unless you learn how to lose."

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

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“If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself."

Eubie Blake

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“No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind."

George Washington Carver