Ida B. Wells

"We must believe that we are to take our place in the world as a great power."

"The lesson this teaches is to turn the light of truth on their actions."

"No one from such surroundings must feel for a moment that education stops at the schoolhouse door."

"The fundamental question before us is whether American citizenship is a fact or a fiction."

"I have always felt it was a duty I owed to my race to tell the truth about their condition."

"We are now in the midst of a great awakening, and I do not wonder that the old spirit of slavery is resisting."

"The test of citizenship is not the ability to vote, but the right to live."

"Force and violence are the weapons of the weak and the powerless, truth and justice are the weapons of the strong and the mighty."

"Our country is a democracy which will not tolerate acts of mob violence."

"What one race owes to another is justice."

"The silence and inactivity of those who call themselves the friends of the Negro is worse than the enmity of his enemies."

"We are fighting for justice and fighting for right."

"I believe we owe it to ourselves and to our race to speak for ourselves."

"The path of the transgressor is hard, but that of the just is secure."

"To me it seemed the greatest work I could do in my life was to help my own people."

"Light your own lamp of truth and let it shine upon the world."

"I have always felt it better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

"The sacrifice of thousands has led to this moment of truth."

"We cannot force anyone to respect us, but we can refuse to participate in our own degradation."

"As long as we tolerate injustice, it will continue."

"The strength of a race is its women."

"Education is the great lever of uplifting the race."

"I have always believed that to make a difference, one must act with integrity."

"The power of the press is the power to shape public opinion."

"We must build our own institutions to serve our own people."

"Injustice thrives when good people remain silent."

"The progress we make depends on our willingness to speak truth to power."

"I refuse to believe that truth and justice will not eventually prevail."

"The future belongs to those who prepare for it today."

"We must take responsibility for our own liberation."