Dr. King used to say, ‘I was sitting in the back of the bus, but my mind was always up front.’ Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it. You aim high and you work very hard and now I think it’s clear that you can be anything you want to.
God did not create two classes of children or human beings-only one.
It is time for every one of us to roll up our sleeves and put ourselves at the top of our commitment list.
It is utterly exhausting being Black in America – physically, mentally, and emotionally. While many minority groups and women feel similar stress, there is no respite or escape from your badge of color.
No time is ever wasted if you have a book along as a companion.
You just do it one step at a time.
If we don’t stand up for children, then we don’t stand for much.
In trying to make a big difference, don’t ignore the small daily differences we can make.
We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.
The legacies that parents and church and teachers left to my generation of Black children were priceless but not material: a living faith reflected in daily service, the discipline of hard work and stick-to-itiveness, and a capacity to struggle in the face of adversity.
I don’t care what my children choose to do professionally, just as long as within their choices they understand they’ve got to give something back.
Homeless shelters, child hunger, and child suffering have become normalized in the richest nation on earth. It’s time to reset our moral compass and redefine how we measure success.
Be grateful for good breaks and kind favors but don’t count on them.
History does not pose problems without eventually producing the solutions.
Character, self-discipline, determination, attitude and service are the substance of life.
I have always believed that I could help change the world, because I have been lucky to have adults around me who did.
To all those mothers and fathers who are struggling with teen-agers, I say, just be patient: even though it looks like you can’t do anything right for a number of years, parents become popular again when kids reach 20.
There are levels of outrage, and there’s a point at which you can’t be trespassed upon anymore.
Children cannot eat rhetoric and they cannot be sheltered by commissions. I don’t want to see another commission that studies the needs of kids. We need to help them.
It is a spiritually impoverished nation that permits infants and children to be the poorest Americans.