You can read this quote by Kara Walker, from a 1996 interview, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read how the quote is referenced here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow him…

You can read these lyrics by Jay Z, from his song “December 4th,” in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read the lyrics in their full context here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief of The…

You can read this quote by Halle Berry, from her 2002 acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Watch Halle Berry’s full acceptance speech here.   Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also…

You can read this quote by David Adjaye, from a 2003 interview in the Guardian newspaper, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read The Root’s coverage of Adjaye here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief…

You can read this quote by the character Winter Santiaga in Sister Souljah’s novel The Coldest Winter Ever (1999) and in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read Sister Souljah’s interview with The Root here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He…

Editor’s note: For those who are wondering about the retro title of this black history series, please take a moment to learn about historian Joel A. Rogers, author of the 1934 book 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof, to whom these “amazing facts” are an homage. Amazing Fact About the Negro No.…

You can read this quote by Michael Jordan in his book I Can’t Accept Not Trying (1994) and in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read more about Michael Jordan here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief…

You can read this quote by President Barack Obama, from a 2007 interview in Time magazine, in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read how the quote is referenced here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the…

You can read this quote by Jean-Michel Basquiat in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. See Basquiat’s work and read how the quote is referenced here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow…

You can read this quote by Angela Bassett from an interview with the Guardian (2009) in Bartlett’s Familiar Black Quotations. Read the quote in its full context here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the…