Henry Louis Gates Quotes
		
	 
	
		
	
	
	
		You notice patterns. White guests often are mortified - that word again - when they learn their ancestors owned slaves. But I've never had a black guest who was upset to learn about white ancestry that probably involved forced sexual relations.
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Henry Louis Gates 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	 
	
	
	
	Quotes to Explore 
		
	
	
	
	
	
		College was where I got to actually experience the difference between black and white. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Ilyasah Shabazz 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		Redlining went beyond FHA-backed loans and spread to the entire mortgage industry, which was already rife with racism, excluding black people from most legitimate means of obtaining a mortgage. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Ta-Nehisi Coates 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		When I started modeling, they tried to pay black models less than they paid Caucasian models. I turned down those jobs because I knew what I was worth. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Iman 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		There's something really unique about 'Orphan Black' is that it has a lot of female leads, so it's about a lot of women's stories, but it's not women's stories in terms of trying to find a guy or keep a guy; it's about entirely other things. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Tatiana Maslany 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		There is a wide, yawning black infinity. In every direction, the extension is endless; the sensation of depth is overwhelming. And the darkness is immortal. Where light exists, it is pure, blazing, fierce; but light exists almost nowhere, and the blackness itself is also pure and blazing and fierce. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Carl Sagan 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		When I was eight years old, I wrote a paragraph-long short story about a goat on my mother's hundred-pound, black-and-white-screen laptop. The story came about largely because I liked the way the word 'goat' looked on the page, but I decided then and there that I wanted to be a writer. That desire never changed. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Tea Obreht 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	 
		
	
	
	
	
		There is some group of Americans who are really, really curious to understand how we ended up at this point, where every week it seems like you can turn on your TV and see some sort of abuse being heaped on black people. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Ta-Nehisi Coates 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		We did a play of 'Frog and Toad' at my elementary school. And I'm not sure if this is part of the book or it was something that we made up on our own, but I auditioned to play the black hole, which somehow makes sense to me. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Hailey Gates 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		But it is a black man's game, and it will be forever. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Larry Bird 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		I never hated hip-hop. It became the new rock and roll. It became the biggest thing that Africans have ever done in the history of the Americas. Hip-hop put more black Americans on than anything before it. It fed more people. It allowed them to diversify into clothing lines and billion-dollar headphone companies. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Eddie Murphy 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		I'd spend every summer in Longview on my grandfather's farm. It was a tiny little town divided by a river, which was the segregation line: that side white, this side black. And meanwhile, I lived in Compton - basically, another whole world sealed into 10 square blocks. It's interesting how insular an environment can be. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Forest Whitaker 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		Poitier opened the doors to so many artists, not just black artists. There is a line that goes from black to Latin to Asian with regards to roles. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Forest Whitaker 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	 
		
	
	
	
	
		The trials my father went through were things most young black males have to go through. There was nothing he shielded from me, because it doesn't matter how you grow up, those who oppress will oppress. It's all completely relatable; everyone feels NWA. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				O'Shea Jackson, Jr. 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		There are no more white linen sofas in my house. We have a rule here: Anything below 36 inches has to be brown or black - the color of chocolate or peanut butter! 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Candice Olson 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		Baby, black promoters oppressed me before white promoters ever got hold of me. Don't talk skin to me. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Mahalia Jackson 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		The studios gotta start making more stuff where black folks get quality stuff. But I can't trip about that because I've been making movies for 35 years, and I've played everything from an old lady to a donkey, so I can't be on here talking about, 'They don't give us enough roles' and diversity. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Eddie Murphy 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		At Marshall Field in Chicago, I had them take a big bed into the menswear department, one with black sheets. I'd get in bed wearing a nightcap, and my fans would get in bed with me, one at a time, and I'd sign their memorabilia. And then I'd give them a free pint of Ben & Jerry's. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				Wavy Gravy 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
				
				L. Frank Baum