The more we pull together toward a new day, the less it matters what pushed us apart in the past.
The histories of the poor and the powerless are as important as those of their conquerors, their colonizers, their kings and queens.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the significance of the narratives of marginalized individuals alongside those of powerful figures throughout history.
Johnnetta B. Cole's quote highlights the importance of recognizing and valuing the histories of the poor and powerless, suggesting that their experiences and stories are just as crucial to our understanding of the past as those of the powerful elites who typically dominate historical narratives. By elevating these voices, we acknowledge the complexity of history and promote a more inclusive view that encompasses all perspectives.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one might use this quote to underscore the need to amplify marginalized voices.
More from Johnnetta B. Cole
All quotes βThe ultimate expression of generosity is not in giving of what you have, but in giving of who you are.
You cannot fully understand your own life without knowing and thinking beyond your life, your own neighborhood, and even your own nation.
Similar quotes
The world must know what happened, and never forget.
I'm the son of two Holocaust survivors. As a child, I heard from one of my parents' best friends about living through Mengele's infamous selection process at Auschwitz. He haunted my nightmares.
The acceptance of the facts of African-American history and the African-American historian as a legitimate part of the academic community did not come easily. Slavery ended and left its false images of black people intact.
William Wilberforce...w as a great man who impacted the Western world as few others have done. Blessed with brains, charm, influence and initiative, much wealth ... he put evangelism on Britain's map as a power for social change, first by overthrowing the slave trade almost single-handed and then by generating a stream of societies for doing good and reducing evil in public life... To forget such men is foolish.
My mom, Clida, taught my four brothers and me about her father's work to organize black voters in rural Louisiana in the 1950s. We carried her dad's legacy of activism with us. The Civil Rights Movement was present in the daily life of my family in Detroit in the 1970s.
History never really says goodbye. History says, 'See you later.'