As we commemorate Black History Month throughout February and reflect on this year’s theme, “African Americans and Labor”, we honor the resilience, leadership and contributions of Black workers, organizers, and advocates who have fought for economic justice. In that spirit, we have pulled together quotes from both past and present African American leaders—words that continue to serve as a guiding force for the work and mission of the Diverse Elders Coalition.

This blog expands upon our previous blog, 35 quotes to help guide your life from famous African American older adults.  

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Civil rights leader: 

“Our needs are identical with labor’s needs – decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures.” 

“The labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it.” 

“No labor is really menial unless you’re not getting adequate wages.” 

• Marian Wright Edelman, Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund: 

“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.” 

• Booker T. Washington, educator, author, and founder of Tuskegee Institute who advocated for vocational education and economic self-reliance for Black Americans: 

“The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house.” 

• Maggie Lena Walker, first African American woman to charter a bank and serve as its president: 

“Let woman choose her own vocation just as man does his. Let her go into business, let her make money, let her become independent, if possible, of man.” 

• James W. Ford, political activist and labor leader: 

“The struggle is international, involving the unity of the Negro peoples with the exploited and oppressed of all countries.” 

• Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader: 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

• Philip Randolph, labor leader, Founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly African American labor union: 

“Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted.” 

• Frederick Douglass, former enslaved person who became a leading abolitionist and labor rights advocate: 

“Power concedes nothing without a demand, It never did and it never will.” 

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” 

• Angela Davis, political activist, scholar, and author: 

“Now, if we look at the way in which the labor movement itself has evolved…we see increasing numbers of Black people who are in the leadership.” 

• Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States and advocate for education, health, and economic empowerment: 

“History has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own.”