Every February, America celebrates Black History Month. Acknowledging and celebrating the multitudinous contributions African Americans have contributed to society is important for all kinds of communities. Black leaders have made significant impacts on American culture, legislature, and more. Although it is important to recognize these impacts year round, Black History Month gives us a great opportunity to focus specifically on the many different African American voices and role models that have come out of history.
Celebrate Black History Month with These Leadership Quotes
Use the quotes below to celebrate Black History Month while inspiring your team! From doing the necessary work to going above and beyond, the leaders below have messages that should be heard by students, teams, and co-workers.
Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde, an author and a civil rights activist, urges her readers to be strong in the face of adversity. This quote in particular stresses the importance of having a vision. For leaders, envisioning what the future looks like is integral to achieving success. However, as Lorde explains, the work of accomplishing a goal cannot stop at simply visualizing. A leader must put in the work to accomplish their dreams. That work can be extremely scary, but Lorde grants her audience some advice. Focus on using your strength to accomplish your goals rather than how hard it could be to achieve them. Following this advice will empower any leader to do what they set their mind on doing.
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois, an educator, author, and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was outwardly critical of many aspects of American culture during his time, but quotes like this remind his audience that there is always a reason to believe in humanity. Taking this quote and applying it to leadership is seamless. As leaders, it can become disheartening to face set-backs, especially when the problem seems larger than life. However, Du Bois here encourages leaders to believe in themselves and their ability to create change. Progress is an inherent characteristic of humanity, even when achieving it seems monumentally difficult. This advice can encourage leaders to stick with their dreams and never lose hope in the future.
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald, a jazz singer, continues the trend of encouraging persistence within people following their dreams. The theory of grit–carrying on despite hardship–is easily spotted within the phrase “don’t give up.” Nothing in history would have ever been achieved if leaders had abandoned their projects when the going got tough. However, Fitzgerald’s message is additionally important because it mentions love and inspiration. Leaders lacking joy for their work are much more likely to give up when times get rough. This is why Fitzgerald’s inclusion of passion for the work being accomplished is so significant. Leaders must let the work they do feed their spirit. This is the only way truly incredible dreams can be achieved.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a famous civil rights activist who is widely quoted due to his rhetorical skills and his leadership qualities. Here, Dr. King urges his audience to always do the right thing. Seems easy, right? Any leader would tell you otherwise. In a world fraught with tough decisions, doing the right thing is incredibly difficult. It requires an enormous amount of empathy, understanding, and knowledge. Not to mention that doing the right thing sometimes requires expending a lot of energy or doing the wrong thing by someone else’s viewpoint. However, Dr. King gives us straightforward advice: do the right thing always. Do the right thing even when it’s hard, exhausting, uncomfortable, or unpopular. Showing integrity as leaders means following this advice closely.
Maya Angelou
Finally, Maya Angelou, a renowned author and civil rights activist, emphasizes the importance of adaptability within leaders. Rather than complaining, whining, or wallowing, Angelou presses her audience to take action. Seeing how action is the only means of accomplishing true change, Angelou is giving leaders excellent advice. However, the genius in Angelou’s quote lies within her second statement. Sometimes change can seem too overwhelming, complicated, or hopeless for a leader to even attempt making it. When this occurs, Angelou tells her audience to switch mindsets rather than giving up. Whether this means accepting that change is inevitable or tackling a problem with a different perspective depends on the specific situation. Angelou simply encourages leaders to never just give up. There must always be another way.
I hope these quotes and their relationships to leadership encourage you to address the importance of both leadership and Black History Month with your students, teams, and co-workers. Keep in mind that countless other African Americans have incredible advice to give about what it means to be a leader. What other quotes by black leaders would you include on this list?
