20th Century African American Women

"My academic study was in experimental, sensory psychology and my professional career was in vision research, both as a researcher and a laboratory manager."

"I was black, I was female, and I wanted to fly. We used to pick cotton in Texas, and I'd look up and think, If we're going to better ourselves, we've got to get above these cotton fields."

"I would like to see all alumni of the University consider how they can continue the enrichment of the University for the future benefit of humanity. There are a number of mechanisms in place now to encourage continued engagement, but some which reach out to very new alumni, even before they are in a position to make significant financial commitments, would be effective in promoting continued involvement."

"That’s it… You just called it for me!"

"Because I was of African descent, that unless I could afford to go to Europe for final 'polishing' in my music, I would probably end up singing in a cabaret in America. If I chose science, my chances were better for a good future."

"Every no takes me closer to a yes."

"When I consider the faculty, students, staff, the alumni and the community engagement I see so many ways in which the University is a model for higher education nationwide, and possibly internationally. I find that exciting, and feel that efforts along those lines will continue because of the good results to date."

"I read everything I could get my hands on about aviating," she later recalled. "Some of the libraries wouldn't let black girls who picked cotton borrow books, but the books I wanted were about piloting, and folks were so surprised they let me have them anyway."

"Blacks should not have to experience the difficulties I have faced," Coleman said. "So I decided to open a flying school and teach other Black women to fly. For accidents may happen and there would be someone to take my place"

"“Organization. There are three things necessary to any goal. First; planning. Second; developing. Third; implementing.”"

"Accepting the position directing minority engineering programs, I left a regular, tenured job with academic administration Being told I was making a tragic career move solidified my need to support students who looked like me."

"I was told that I would never make full professor because I would not be doing funded research or publishing scholarly papers."

"I thought, ‘wait a minute, I deserve the same right to be a part of a group who are honoring their forefathers,'” said Benton."

"Very little is known about black confederate soldiers, so if I can be a starting point in letting the world know the history and making them aware that African-Americans have fought in every war in history, then I’m proud to stand up for my great-grandfather. I’m honored because he helped form the United States of America, he was a part of that movement and not too many people are aware of that. I’m standing here with honor and pride."

"Very few African-Americans" can produce that amount of documentation"

"I have every right to membership in the UDC, which along with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, remembers and recognizes the men who fought for and rendered service to the South during the Civil War"

"It's a very involved process," said Piechocinski. "You have to prove that you are a linear descendant of a Confederate, either a soldier, or someone who served in another capacity, such as a cook, laborer or musician."

"He was fighting for his land and his people"

"My son tells me I’m a trailblazer, because I was also involved in the community Civil Rights movement in Port Wentworth. So, trailblazing, making a difference, I guess it’s in my blood. It’s just something that you do"

"I believe in love at first sight, all of that. I’m a very romantic person. I romanticize life. How grim and sad is your life if you can’t mythologize it? Because life is hard. So I’ve always just tried to make a story out of everything. I don’t want things to be run of the mill. I want everything to be high stakes, more vivid than average: The most interesting people you’ve ever met, the funniest dialogue, the best sex, like ever. Because ultimately, this is a gift from me, to Black women."

"Humor is so important! Life is absurd. It truly is. And in The Perfect Find, the characters find themselves in some dramatic situations that call for some levity – a quip, a witticism, a bit of banter. It’s very much a Black thing to use humor to cope with outrageous circumstances!"

"To me, love is like listening to an album. Some people skip to their favorite songs and ignore the rest. Other people listen to the entire album over and over until it's familiar and cherished and they know every note by heart."

"Why did I ever pick up a pen?! It’s hard! It’s hard because you’re not doing it for anyone else. You’re doing it for yourself and you have to be the boss and the taskmaster and if you’re tired or struggling or have writer’s block, it’s very hard to stay on top of your schedule to meet your goals."

"I think the thing that I’ve learned the most is that I don’t always have to write exactly about what I know."

"I’ve seen beautiful things and terrible things. Until you, I didn’t know that they’re two sides of the same feeling. I want you, Ricki. Actually, it’s not a want. It’s an uncompromising, inconvenient need. But it’ll ruin us both."

"I wrote the book because black women in America have been protected and insulated against certain kinds of criticism and examination."

"Most generally, it’s the idea that we should live in a fair, equal society that doesn’t oppress, degrade, silence, ignore, or disempower women. Nobody is free until everybody is free. Most importantly, any true feminism theory must be intersectional."

"Her greatest aim is to bring to her audience the humanness of the Negro wherever he is found."

"We should not want to think of America as a 'melting pot,' but as a great interracial laboratory where Americans can really begin to build the thing which the rest of the world feels they stand for...that is real democracy."

"A child is a child, but a black child is something special, it is special because it is I, it is you; it is personal."

"Preparation is key. You can’t wait until the door opens first and then get prepared. You have to be prepared so when the door opens, whatever opportunity presents itself, you’re ready to take advantage of it."

"The spirit of the copper sun seemed to bleed for them as it glowed bright red against the deepening blue of the great water."

"Amari loved the rusty brown dirt of Ziavi. The path, hard-packed from thousands of bare feet that had trod on it for decades, was flanked on both sides by fat, fruit-laden mango trees, the sweet smell of which always seemed to welcome her home."

"We must welcome our guests, then, Amari. We would never judge people simply by how they looked—that would be uncivilized…Let us prepare for a celebration."

"The crowd is eventually separated, the men from the women, and shoved into a large, dark building where Amari can smell “sweat and fear…body wastes and hopelessness”"

"I know many in our Harvard Jewish community are hurting, and experiencing grief, fear, and trauma. I have heard—from faculty, students, staff, and alumni—of incidents of intimidation and harassment. I have seen reckless and thoughtless rhetoric shared—in person and online, on campus and off. I have listened to leaders in our Jewish community who are scared and disillusioned. At the same time, I know members of Harvard’s Muslim and Arab communities are also hurting. During these past months, the world, our nation, and our campuses have also seen a rise of incidents of Islamophobia."

"In response, I have sought to confront hate while preserving free expression. This is difficult work, and I know that I have not always gotten it right. The free exchange of ideas is the foundation upon which Harvard is built, and safety and wellbeing are the prerequisites for engagement in our community. Without both of these things, our teaching and research mission founder."

"Our community still mourns those brutally murdered during the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on October 7. Words fail in the face of such depravity, the deadliest single day for the Jewish community since the horrors of the Holocaust."

"Courage is hard, and hard to sustain. But we see it everywhere, steady in the face of war and injustice, sickness and loss, in stories of perseverance for a greater purpose."

"A responsibility to help anchor our democracy—by cultivating norms and values essential to a free society and by ensuring the free flow of knowledge not only among students and faculty but to all citizens to enable them to make informed decisions."

"A bold claim, perhaps. But not a boastful one. Courage abides in a kind of purposeful detachment, admitting our fears and false steps even as we advance—to paraphrase Sojourner Truth, not allowing our light to be determined by the darkness around us. And in courage, we find freedom—where we dare to imagine and make a different future together."

"My name is Claudine Gay and I am the president of Harvard University. It’s an honor to be here today, representing a community of more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students, more than 19,000 faculty and staff, and more than 400,000 alumni—including multiple Members of this Committee."

"By increasing access to our magnificent collections, verging now on half a billion items, we cast the myriad elements of civilization into the living world—in all their error, and wisdom, and beauty—to be reconsidered, remade, and remembered by the next generation."

"Antisemitism is a symptom of ignorance, and the cure for ignorance is knowledge. Harvard must model what it means to preserve free expression while combating prejudice and preserving the security of our community. We are undertaking that hard, long-term work with the attention and intensity it requires."

"Why? is a question that comes to us early in life. If you know a young child, you know this well: Why are we here? Why is the moon out during the day? Why can’t I eat ice cream for breakfast? Why is she talking so much? We may be tempted to stop asking why when we accept the default answers around us, until something sparks us to question those answers."

"What we offer to the world will depend on Harvard’s courage—our courage—to ask two questions that propel our work—Why? and Why not? And it will depend on the courage to answer, with confidence, two others: Why here? and Why now?"

"We serve that purpose best when we commit to open inquiry and freedom of expression as foundational values of our academic community. Our individual and collective capacity for discovery depends on our willingness to debate ideas; to expose and reconsider assumptions; to marshal facts and evidence; to talk and to listen with care and humility, and with the goal of deeper understanding and as seekers of truth."

"Debate and the inclusion of diverse viewpoints and experiences, while essential for our work, are not always easy to live with. They can be a recipe for discomfort, fired in the heat of social media and partisan rancor. And discomfort can weaken our resolve and make us vulnerable to a rhetoric of control and containment that has no place in the academy. That is when we must summon the courage to be Harvard. To love truth enough to endure the challenge of truth-seeking and truth-telling. To love truth enough to ask Why?"

"And because of the collective courage of all those who walked that impossible distance, across centuries, and dared to create a different future, I stand before you on this stage—in this distinguished company and magnificent theatre, at this moment of challenge in our nation and in the world, with the weight and honor of being a “first”—able to say, “I am Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard University.”"

"It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president. This is not a decision I came to easily. Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words because I have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance the commitment to academic excellence that has propelled this great university across centuries. But, after consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual."