Look Ahead and Prepare...Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret."

— Jackie Joyner-Kersee, first woman to win back-to-back gold medals in the Summer Olympics; Six-time Olympic medal winner and Founder of Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation

Take A Stand…Howard Cosell

“Stand for something. Don’t quest for popularity at the expense of morality and ethics and honesty.” 

—Howard Cosell

Confidence Is…Nona Ogunsula

“Don't project your insecurities onto someone else. Maybe it's not that they think they are too this or that, it's that you're uncomfortable with who they are and what they represent.”

—Nona O., Founder, womenatliberty.com & Women Making History

I saw a television show this weekend where a group of women attacked and disliked another woman because her aproach to life and values were different than theirs. "She thinks she's too good for us. She's too quiet. She doesn't hang out with us all the time. She's a goody two-shoes." They felt this way because she did not like the same things they liked. She expressed opinions that were different from the group's opinions. So, naturally she became a target.

As adults, we have to be careful that we don't go through life constantly playing middle school games. Let people be who they are. That's a sign of maturity. If you are uncomfortable with who they are, check yourself first. Have the courage to do this as an individual away from the group. It maybe that her example will help you find the confidence to be more of who you really want to be rather than always fit the questionable expectations of the group.

Willing To Give Up The Fight?…Marian Anderson

“No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him (her) down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise.” 

—Marian you Anderson

Let's Fight For What We Believe In...Aunjanue Ellis

"I am against hate speech. I am against racism. I am against symbols of division. I am against the Confederate symbol of hate that has corrupted our state. I'm asking all of you to stand up for the rights that our fathers and mothers and grandparents fought and bled for. Let's fight for what we believe in."

--Aunjanue Ellis

Aunjanue Ellis' words in 2017 as she protested against her native Mississippi's use of the Confederate emblem as a symbol of pride on the State flag. The emblem was removed from the flag in July 2020.

Impossible Then, Possible Now...Constance Baker Motley

"Something which we think is impossible now is not impossible in another decade."

--Constance Baker Motley (First Black Woman in the U.S. to become a Federal Judge)

As we await in 2022  President Biden's nomination of the first black woman to be a Supreme Court Justice, remember the quote of Judge Constance Baker Motley above and remember this wisdom: don't let people tell you what is or is not possible for you? 

Malevolence...Frederick Douglass

"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe."

--Frederick Douglass