Stokely Carmichael Quotes

Dr. King's policy was, if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That's very good. He only made one fallacious assumption. In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.

If a white man wants to lynch me, that’s his problem. If he’s got the power to lynch me, that’s my problem. Racism is not a question of attitude; it’s a question of power.

Our grandfathers had to run, run, run. My generation's out of breath. We ain't running no more.

There is a higher law than the law of government. That's the law of conscience.

The secret of life is to have no fear; it's the only way to function.

It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations.

This country is a nation of thieves. It stole everything it has, beginning with black people. The U.S. cannot justify its existence as the policeman of the world any longer. I do not want to be a part of the American pie. The American pie means raping South Africa, beating Vietnam, beating South America, raping the Philippines, raping every country you’ve been in. I don’t want any of your blood money. I don’t want to be part of that system. We must question whether or not we want this country to continue being the wealthiest country in the world at the price of raping everybody else.

Our noses are broad, our lips are thick, our hair is nappy-we are black and beautiful!

One does not fight to influence change and then leave the change to someone else to bring about.

An organization which claims to speak for the needs of a community must speak in the tone of that community.

What a liberal really wants is to bring about change that will not in any way endanger his position.

Now, then, in order to understand white supremacy we must dismiss the fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom.

The first need of a free people is to define their own terms.

Go home and tell your daughters they are beautiful.

The time for running has come to an end. You tell them white folk in Mississippi that all the scared niggers are dead!

I ain't going to jail no more. The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin' us is to take over. What we gonna start sayin' now is Black Power!

No man can given anybody his freedom.

One of the tragedies of the struggle against racism is that up to now there has been no national organization which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghetto.

We were aware of the fact that death walks hand in hand with struggle.

Seems to me that the institutions that function in this country are clearly racist, and that they're built upon racism.

The death of Che Guevara places a responsibility on all revolutionaries of the World to redouble their decision to fight on to the final defeat of Imperialism. That is why in essence Che Guevara is not dead, his ideas are with us.

I maintain that every civil rights bill in this country was passed for white people, not for black people.

Black Power can be clearly defined for those who do not attach the fears of white America to their questions about it.

I usually say I did the best I could with what I had. I have no major regrets.

An organization which claims to be working for the needs of a community - as SNCC does - must work to provide that community with a position of strength from which to make its voice heard. This is the significance of black power beyond the slogan