“How refreshing to consume words that have meaning and depth. In the great and honored tradition of wisdom literature and if there is anything that could be called instant wisdom, ‘nigga notes & quotes’ fills that void. This book may be the finest book of quotes, anecdotes, sayings and sage bromides any people struggling for human dignity and liberation will ever read.”
Tanomar Akili Muumba
Black Poet Activist (Rest in Power)
when describing “nigga notes & quotes”*
– day eleven –
“…they expect nothing beneficial from the white world and see no reason for hope in their own.”
author forgotten
BLACK UNITY – a dream deferred or a nightmare of our own making.
From the beginning of our enslavement til now, unity has been promoted as the KEY to all our hopes and dreams of a life free from oppression, a life of freedom, justice and equality.
But…
“ever since we began to integrate into the larger society black people have been led to believe, it’s every man for himself, and every man has to save himself, that we cannot achieve except by individual effort. We have been led to believe this so that we wouldn’t seek unification as a group. The problem with this notion is that there’s no dignity in only saving oneself. Many of us don’t realize it but the survival and success of black people will depend on collective as well as individual effort.”
author forgotten
However, …
“the social tendency is not for people to come together, but for people to fly apart. People find it difficult to unite in groups, and when they do, they find it difficult to stay together. We have deep individualistic tendencies and we do not like external controls of any kind. But out of human experience individuals learn that only groups are capable of developing the power necessary for survival. Only individuals who realize that they cannot make it by themselves are willing to sacrifice enough to bring a group into being.”
author forgotten
And…
“for the black world, history’s watchmen could see no sign of promise, no sign of hope outside of a position of strength which unity alone can provide. But there will never be real unity without a plan and a program to sustain it. Petty power struggles, bickering, and ATTACKING each other are all signs of a death wish as a race. Which way then, you still enshackled blacks? Six thousand years of history has answered: UNITE or PERISH”
Chancellor Williams
Will our communal aspirations for self-determination dry up like a “raisin in the sun” (as Langston Hughes in his famous poem, “Dream Deferred”) and explode. Will our collective efforts for freedom remain just out of reach like the setting sun on the dusk’s horizon? Will our collaborative organization (our bodies and our actions) give rise to the one thing that we have longed for that has alluded us to this very moment, liberation by any means necessary by BEING UNIFIED as a BLACK PEOPLE!
We, the Universal Black Family, will decide, so… what say, brothers and sisters?
*Since most of these quotes were collected prior to 1985 it means some of the authors of these quotes, I have simply forgotten… blame old age! (Ha) When the author is known, I will indicate it. When an author is not indicated, please forgive me and understand. Furthermore, this collection of quotes was first started as a personal endeavor never meant to be shared publicly thus the reason why some authors may not be indicated.