A curated register of quotes from under-represented voices.

“ Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare. ”

— Audre Lorde, 1988

“ Your silence will not protect you. ”

— Audre Lorde, 1977

“ There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ”

— Maya Angelou, 1969

“ People will never forget how you made them feel. ”

— Maya Angelou

“ If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ”

— Toni Morrison, 1981

“ Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another. ”

— Toni Morrison, 1987

“ Culture does not make people. People make culture. ”

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2014

“ The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. ”

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2009

“ There are years that ask questions and years that answer. ”

— Zora Neale Hurston, 1937

“ Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books. ”

— bell hooks, 1994

“ You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. ”

— Angela Davis

“ When one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear. ”

— Rosa Parks, 1992

“ The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. ”

— Ida B. Wells

“ Truth is powerful and it prevails. ”

— Sojourner Truth

“ If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair. ”

— Shirley Chisholm

“ When they go low, we go high. ”

— Michelle Obama, 2016

“ You may be the first, but make sure you're not the last. ”

— Kamala Harris, 2020

“ Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations. ”

— Mae Jemison

“ It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. ”

— Wangari Maathai

“ The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. ”

— Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2011

“ It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live. ”

— Nina Simone

“ I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. ”

— Nina Simone

“ A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall. ”

— Serena Williams

“ I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take. ”

— Simone Biles

“ Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. ”

— Wilma Rudolph

“ You can't be what you can't see. ”

— Marian Wright Edelman

“ I got my start by giving myself a start. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker, 1912

“ Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts. ”

— Nikki Giovanni

“ In order to rise from its own ashes, a phoenix first must burn. ”

— Octavia Butler, 1998

“ The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. ”

— Alice Walker

“ I shall dance all my life. ”

— Josephine Baker

“ Love is an action, never simply a feeling. ”

— bell hooks, 2000

“ Turn your wounds into wisdom. ”

— Oprah Winfrey

“ The only thing that separates women of colour from anyone else is opportunity. ”

— Viola Davis, 2015

“ If your dream only includes you, it's too small. ”

— Ava DuVernay

“ You can start late, look different, be uncertain, and still succeed. ”

— Misty Copeland

“ Success isn't about how much money you make, it's about the difference you make in people's lives. ”

— Michelle Obama

“ I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept. ”

— Angela Davis

“ When I leave this world, I don't want to be remembered as just being good at tennis. I want to be remembered as a good person and a good advocate. ”

— Coco Gauff, 2022

“ I always wanted to not just be a tennis player. ”

— Coco Gauff

“ I'm ready mentally, physically, and emotionally. And I'm here to stay, I'm not back, I'm better. ”

— Sha'Carri Richardson, 2023

“ A feminist is a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. ”

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2012

“ Just me existing, as an openly black transgender woman from a working-class background, thriving, is a political act. ”

— Laverne Cox

“ My disability is not something I've had to overcome. I'm still Deafblind. The biggest barrier I face is ableism. ”

— Haben Girma, 2019

“ Stop assuming we're incompetent. We are talented; we work hard. It's just ableism, the assumption that people with disabilities are inferior, that gets in our way. ”

— Haben Girma, 2019

“ We have to protect our body and our mind. It just sucks when you're fighting with your own head. ”

— Simone Biles, 2021

“ No medal, no accolade or exam results are more important than your mental health. ”

— Simone Biles

“ I do hope that people can relate and understand it's O.K. to not be O.K., and it's O.K. to talk about it. ”

— Naomi Osaka, 2021

“ There are people who can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel. ”

— Naomi Osaka, 2021

“ If they don't give you a seat at the table, stand on it with a megaphone. ”

— Mari Copeny

“ Our greatest threat right now is leaders not taking action in environmental racism and the American water crisis. ”

— Mari Copeny

“ Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men. I don't have a feeling of inferiority. Never had. I'm as good as anybody, but no better. ”

— Katherine Johnson

“ I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed, anything that could be counted, I did. ”

— Katherine Johnson

“ What I really aspire to do in the poem is to be able to use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal. ”

— Amanda Gorman, 2021

“ I've always held on to that America that I know, that I love, that does welcome refugees with open arms. ”

— Ilhan Omar, 2019

“ The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. ”

— bell hooks, 2000

“ Abolition is really about rethinking the kind of future we want, the social future, the economic future, the political future. It's about revolution, I would argue. ”

— Angela Davis, 2020

“ My question is, why are people so quick to assume that locking away an increasingly large proportion of the U.S. population would help those who live in the free world feel safer and more secure? ”

— Angela Davis, 2003

“ Voting rights for me are the point of entry to democracy. ”

— Stacey Abrams, 2021

“ Voter suppression is real. From making it harder to register and stay on the rolls to moving and closing polling places to rejecting lawful ballots, we can no longer ignore these threats to democracy. ”

— Stacey Abrams, 2018

“ You don't have to change the whole world, but by changing your thinking, you can change your actions, and then by changing your actions, you can change your community. ”

— Marley Dias

“ As we censor these really valuable stories, we are losing empathy in rapid levels throughout our country. ”

— Marley Dias

“ I hope it's a bit of a love letter to everyone who feels different, who feels out of place, to all of the Black women who have walked into rooms and felt like they haven't been welcomed. ”

— Cynthia Erivo, 2024

“ Investing in women is smart economics, and investing in girls, catching them upstream is even smarter economics. ”

— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

“ Your sexuality and your gender identity are one part of who you are. But it's so important that you focus on who you are and what you want for yourself. ”

— Munroe Bergdorf

“ Hashtags do not start movements. People do. ”

— Alicia Garza

“ At first we were fighting people to even say Black lives matter. Now everybody's saying Black lives matter. The question now is, well, what do you mean? ”

— Alicia Garza

“ Being non-violent is not being a coward. It's one of the most powerful tools because even those who pick up guns are cowards. ”

— Leymah Gbowee, 2011

“ When you've lived true fear for so long, you have nothing to be afraid of. ”

— Leymah Gbowee, 2011

“ In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now. ”

— Wangari Maathai, 2004

“ Industry and global institutions must appreciate that ensuring economic justice, equity and ecological integrity are of greater value than profits at any cost. ”

— Wangari Maathai, 2004

“ My vision for the Me Too Movement is a part of a collective vision to see a world free of sexual violence, and I believe we can build that world. ”

— Tarana Burke

“ What's above us connects us. Every group of people around the world have looked up at the stars for thousands of generations. ”

— Mae Jemison

“ I became an artist, and thank god I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. ”

— Viola Davis, 2017

“ It's hard as a young person of a different ethnicity or background to look at the TV and not see anyone who looks like you. ”

— Zendaya, 2016

“ I use my platform for more than just myself. To neglect the political is to neglect what essentially is your job of storytelling. ”

— Zendaya

“ There is hope in the young people out there. And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets: I see you, I admire you, I thank you. ”

— Zendaya, 2020

“ So why does Wimbledon choose to place a lesser value on my championship trophy than that of the 2005 men's winner Roger Federer? ”

— Venus Williams, 2006

“ There is no royal flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it, for if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker

“ I am not ashamed of my past and don't intend to be ashamed of it. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker

“ I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there, I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there, I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker

“ Don't sit down and wait for opportunities to come. Get up and make them. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker

“ I am not satisfied in making money for myself. I endeavor to provide employment for hundreds of the women of my race. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker

“ It's pretty hard for the Lord to guide you if you haven't made up your mind which way to go. ”

— Madam C.J. Walker