The unhealthy gap between what we preach in America and what we often practice creates a moral dry rot that eats at the very foundation of our democratic ideals and values.

Black is beautiful when it is a slum kid studying to enter college, when it is a man learning new skills for a new job. . . .

Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed.

It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.

Black Power simply means: Look at me, I'm here. I have dignity. I have pride. I have roots. I insist, I demand that I participate in those decisions that affect my life and the lives of my children. It means that I am somebody.

Our ability to create has outreached our ability to use wisely the products of our invention.

Black is beautiful when it is a slum kid studying to enter college, when it is a man learning new skills for a new job, or a slum mother battling to give her kids a chance for a better life. But white is beautiful, too, when it helps change society to make our system work for black people also. White is ugly when it oppresses blacks-and so is black ugly when black people exploit other blacks. No race has a monopoly on vice or virtue, and the worth of an individual is not related to the color of his skin.