Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes

I'd been very partial to Malcolm X, particularly his self-help teachings.

When I began my political career, I identified with Malcolm X.

'Malcolm X' was impressionable for me as a kid.

Malcolm X made me very strong at a time I needed to understand what I was angry about. He had peace in his heart. He exerted a big influence on me.

If they had not murdered Malcolm X, there probably never would have been a Black Panther Party.

I come from an era of black pride, black power, my father riding around listening to James Brown singing, 'Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud,' and people walking around with African medallions and Malcolm X hats.

But when I reintroduced the Nation of Islam, and began to host meetings in cities and thousands and thousands of people come out.

The rise of African nations concurrent with the spread of the Nation of Islam and the civil rights movement gave black America a burst of pride over and above anything they had had since the decline of the movement of Marcus Garvey.

If you blink, you will miss me, but I am in 'Malcolm X.'

We have been saying "Freedom" for six years. What we are going to start saying now is "Black Power". We have begged the President. We've begged the federal government. That's all we've been doing, begging and begging. From now on, when they ask you what you want, you know what to tell them.

I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me nigger.

I want you to leave here with a sense of mission. Martin Luther King is waiting for you to march with him.

Malcolm X was the first political person in this country that I really identified with. If he had lived and not been purged, I probably would have joined the Muslims.

We come to Selma to be renewed. We come to be inspired. We come to be reminded that we must do the work that justice and equality calls us to do.

The action of Rosa Parks, the words and leadership of Dr. King inspired me. I was deeply inspired. I wanted to do something.

I grew up reading Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

In college, I was so blessed to have relationships with those who did the civil rights movement.

The Black Panther party of Self-Defense is a revolutionary party.

Dr. King used Gandhi's commitment to non-violence and to passive resistance.

In many ways, history is marked as 'before' and 'after' Rosa Parks. She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation came down.

One individual can begin a movement that turns the tide of history. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement, Mohandas Ganhi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa are examples of people standing up with courage and non-violence to bring about needed changes.

With guys I revere, like Marcus Garvey or Malcolm X, their look is less about style than purpose and the expression of beauty. It wasn't just about being noticed, you know?

I loved Elijah Muhammad with a love that I can't adequately describe.

Ali... we should have gone to see that movie. Malcolm X was another one.

If you look at the true essence of the Black Panthers, they were more of a community protection group.