Stokely Carmichael quotes

Stokely Carmichael was an American civil rights activist and key figure in the Black Power movement. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he advocated for racial justice and Black self-determination. He became known for popularizing the phrase "Black Power" and inspiring generations of activists. Here are 35 of his quotes:

We were aware of the fact that death walks hand in hand with struggle.

Stokely Carmichael

Integration is a man's ability to want to move in there by himself. If someone wants to live in a white neighborhood and he is black, that is his choice. It should be his rights. It is not because white people will not allow him.

Stokely Carmichael

It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations.

Stokely Carmichael

Our grandfathers had to run, run, run. My generation's out of breath. We ain't running no more.

Stokely Carmichael

The death of Che Guevara places a responsibility on all revolutionaries of the World to redouble their decision to fight on to the final defeat of Imperialism. That is why in essence Che Guevara is not dead, his ideas are with us.

Stokely Carmichael

The time for running has come to an end. You tell them white folk in Mississippi that all the scared niggers are dead!

Stokely Carmichael

One of the tragedies of the struggle against racism is that up to now there has been no national organization which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghetto.

Stokely Carmichael

We had no more courage than Harriet Tubman or Marcus Garvey had in their times. We just had a more vulnerable enemy.

Stokely Carmichael

The first need of a free people is to define their own terms.

Stokely Carmichael

There has been only a civil rights movement, whose tone of voice was adapted to an audience of liberal whites.

Stokely Carmichael

I usually say I did the best I could with what I had. I have no major regrets.

Stokely Carmichael

I maintain that every civil rights bill in this country was passed for white people, not for black people.

Stokely Carmichael

Black power can be clearly defined for those who do not attach the fears of white America to their questions about it.

Stokely Carmichael

Now, then, in order to understand white supremacy we must dismiss the fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom.

Stokely Carmichael

The philosophers Camus and Sartre raise the question whether or not a man can condemn himself.

Stokely Carmichael

No man can given anybody his freedom.

Stokely Carmichael

Before a group can enter the open society, it must first close ranks.

Stokely Carmichael

Seems to me that the institutions that function in this country are clearly racist, and that they're built upon racism.

Stokely Carmichael

There is a higher law than the law of government. That's the law of conscience.

Stokely Carmichael

The secret of life is to have no fear; it's the only way to function.

Stokely Carmichael

I knew that I could vote and that that wasn't a privilege; it was my right. Every time I tried I was shot, killed or jailed, beaten or economically deprived.

Stokely Carmichael

An organization which claims to be working for the needs of a community - as SNCC does - must work to provide that community with a position of strength from which to make its voice heard. This is the significance of black power beyond the slogan.

Stokely Carmichael