It is character that should be the sole measure of judgement in the society of thinking humanity, and nothing short of that would do.

— Abhijit Naskar

It is not enough for the Negroes to declare that color-prejudice is the sole cause of their social condition, nor for the white South to reply that their social condition is the main cause of prejudice. They both act as reciprocal cause and effect, and a change in neither alone will bring the desired effect. Both must change, or neither can improve to any great extent."(p.88)...." Only by a union of intelligence and sympathy across the color-line in this critical period of the Republic shall justice and right triumph,

— W.E.B. Du Bois

It occurred to them for the first time in their lives that what's divine can come in dark skin.

— Sue Monk Kidd

It’s a fact: black people in this country die more easily, at all ages, across genders. Look at how young black men die, and how middle-aged black men drop-dead, and how black women are ravaged by HIV/AIDS. The numbers graft to poverty, but they also graph to stress known and invisible. How did we come here, after all? Not with upturned chins and bright eyes but rather in chains, across a chasm. But what did we do? We built a nation, and we built its art.

— Elizabeth Alexander

It's a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I'll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope I shall have a chance, I do! Things have got to a pretty pass, if a woman can't give a warm supper and a bed to poor, starving creatures, just because they are slaves, and have been abused and oppressed all their lives, poor things!"... "Now, John, I don't know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow.

— Harriet Beecher Stowe

It was almost as if she had willed him into existence, into standing before her at the precise moment she was willing to accommodate him, arriving not a minute too early or too late.

— Roy L. Pickering Jr.

It was his experience that life worked under the same guidelines as a capitalistic society. In order to get what you wanted, it was usually necessary to give up something in return. Sometimes gaining what you defined as everything meant losing what you most needed.

— Roy L. Pickering Jr.

It was just a word. It took nothing from him. Furthermore, it made him feel only as low as he allowed himself to feel. His own brother used it in conversation habitually. But not in the same way - filled with malice, overflowing with insult. He couldn't tear his eyes away, shook with lust for retribution. Six little letters making one huge statement. NIGGER.

— Roy L. Pickering Jr.

I understand we all have our differences. But while learning about history I've read about white people coming together, Jews coming together, Spanish coming together, different cultures and religions understanding and coming together despite their differences. Slavery was never something that shocked me. What shocks me is how black people have not yet overcome the odds, and we're such strong smart people. Why we can't just stand together?

— Jonathan Anthony Burkett

I want to introduce my readers to people they may never have met, take them places they may never have visited, and present them with situations they may never have encountered.

— J. Everett Prewitt