"People who own property feel a sense of ownership in their future and their society. They study, save, work, strive and vote. And people trapped in a culture of tenancy do not."
-Henry Louis Gates
workView Quote
"It's important to debunk the myths of Africa being this benighted continent civilized only when white people arrived. In fact, Africans had been creators of culture for thousands of years before. These were very intelligent, subtle and sophisticated people, with organized societies and great art.“
-Henry Louis Gates
posted in art
Other Quotes
Discover more inspiring quotes from our collection
"Let's face it - think of Africa, and the first images that come to mind are of war, poverty, famine and flies. How many of us really know anything at all about the truly great ancient African civilizations, which in their day, were just as splendid and glorious as any on the face of the earth?"
-Henry Louis Gates
warView Quote
"The sad truth is that without complex business partnerships between African elites and European traders and commercial agents, the slave trade to the New World would have been impossible, at least on the scale it occurred."
-Henry Louis Gates
truthView Quote
"The sad truth is that the civil rights movement cannot be reborn until we identify the causes of black suffering, some of them self-inflicted. Why can't black leaders organize rallies around responsible sexuality, birth within marriage, parents reading to their children and students staying in school and doing homework?"
-Henry Louis Gates
truthView Quote
"The thing about black history is that the truth is so much more complex than anything you could make up."
-Henry Louis Gates
truthView Quote
"The historical basis for the gap between the black middle class and underclass shows that ending discrimination, by itself, would not eradicate black poverty and dysfunction. We also need intervention to promulgate a middle-class ethic of success among the poor, while expanding opportunities for economic betterment."
-Henry Louis Gates
successView Quote
Same Category
More quotes in this category
"Wushu is a move in Chinese, a physical move. An attack. Wushu is like an art."
-Jet Li
artView Quote
"A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece."
-Ludwig Erhard
artView Quote
"In my world, history comes down to language and art. No one cares much about what battles were fought, who won them and who lost them - unless there is a painting, a play, a song or a poem that speaks of the event."
-Theodore Bikel
artView Quote
"My first love is art, and I see a lot of things in an artistic way."
-Robert Carlyle
artView Quote
"Science is spectral analysis. Art is light synthesis."
-Karl Kraus
artView Quote
"Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide."
-Ben Okri
artView Quote