Ossie Davis Quotes

I love being black.

The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.

Learn to love being black.

The true Negro does not want integration... He realizes his potential is far better among his own race.

We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.

I love my brownness.

I feel good being a black woman; I've always felt good.

I'm a black American, and I'm proud to represent who and where I'm from - unapologetically. There's no shame in my game.

I'm a black man that is proud to be black, and I want to help the black community, but I love all mankind.

In a world of wolves one should go armed, and one of the most powerful defensive weapons within the reach of Negroes is the practice of race first in all parts of the world.

Part of the history of black people in the western hemisphere, in some ways, has been fleeing from this notion that they were black. So I can represent an ideal, and with that, you can demonstrate that there is nothing to be afraid of, nothing to run from, and that, in fact, a good deal of beauty that resides there.

My son don't have to say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud. He don't have to be called those crazy names.

I don't mind being black. I'm black out loud. It's more than the people that they are, it's the condition that they represent.

Being black is not a matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of a mental attitude.

My grandfather was coloured, my father was Negro, and I am Black.

Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time.

Barack Obama makes me feel good to be a black man.

My grandparents were colored. My parents were Negroes. And now I am Black.

To my mind, it is the duty of the younger Negro artist, if he accepts any duties at all from outsiders, to change through the force of his art that old whispering 'I want to be white,' hidden in the aspirations of his people, to 'Why should I want to be white? I am a Negro - and beautiful!'

I'm black, and it's a very important part of what I am. I'm not embarrassed about it.

I'm black because I was born this way. I'm proud of it. Thank God I am who I am.

Sammy was the only one that looked like me, so I naturally gravitated to him. Sammy made it cool to be black at a time when, let's just say it, it wasn't very cool to be black. His name was on the front of the building in lights, and he had to go in the back. But you never saw him sweat.

Not only did I always know I was black, I always knew we were and are beautiful, culturally rich, and creators of everything from the sciences to the arts.

I like to think my work is furthering black culture by educating and empowering black people.

'Black Ice Cream' is a salute to the ladies with Black Girl Magic who exude a powerful sexual confidence.