Quotes and Black Art

Your Curated Art Museum

“Come for the art, stay for the quotes.”

“People always coming up with excuses about why they can’t do this and why they can’t do that. You can do anything you want to do.”

— Terry McMillan, Mama, 1987

A Snippet:

Did you know that Terry McMillan’s 1996 best-selling novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back—which explored a May-December romance—was based on McMillan’s own experience with her former husband, Jonathan Plummer, whom she married in 1998 when she was a 47 year-old, single mom, and Plummer was 24?

Learn more . . .

Quotes and Black Art

Thursday, April 16, 2026 (Edition 11)

31. “Tea and Conversations” (2014) by Synthia SAINT JAMES

“I’m a ‘Woman of Color.’ I don’t actually bring my identity into my art — it’s in my DNA so it just surfaces on its own.”

- Synthia SAINT JAMES

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32. “Funeral Procession” (c. 1950) by Ellis Wilson

“There is so much to paint and so little time.”

- Ellis Wilson

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33. “Sisters of the Sun” by Carl Owens

“In the end, all you have are the people who love you and the work that you leave behind.”

- Carl Owens

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The Silver Lining?

"I mean, nothing changes if nothing changes. At the end of the day, it all starts with me, so I thank God. I got a chance. So I made that choice, and that choice was to change."

- Antwuan Dixon (b. 1988, pro skateboarder)

Aries Birthdays!

(March 21st - April 19th)

• April 13 - Al Green

• April 15 - Sexyy Red

• April 16 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Chance the Rapper, and Martin Lawrence (today)!

• April 17 - Lela Rochon

• April 17 - Redman

• April 17 - Tami Roman

(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)

Every saint has a past and every sinner a future

Quotes and Black Art - A Newsletter

Next issue is next Thursday:

• 11am (Pacific), 2pm (Eastern)

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Quotes and Black Art.

Made by Jafari.

Silicon Valley’s most creative MBA.

2026 My STEM Grew Petals Publishing. A free-for-all.

Quotes and Black Art is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free subscriber.

Quotes and Black Art

Your Curated Art Museum

“Come for the art; stay for the quotes.”

“The children never failed to pay every adult the respect their mothers had taught them to show always toward their elders. Politely looking the adults in the eyes, the children would ask, ‘Kerabe?’ (Do you have peace?) And the adults would reply, ‘Kera dorong.’ (Peace only).”

— Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, 1976

A Snippet:

Did you know that it is commonly thought that Dr. Carter G. Woodson selected February for Negro History Week—which would eventually become Black History Month—to include the birthdays of two famous Americans who played a prominent role in shaping Black history?

Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14).

Learn more . . .

Quotes and Black Art

Thursday, April 9, 2026 (Lesson 12)

“A little somethin' for my godson Elijah and a little girl named Corin.”

- 2Pac, Keep Ya Head Up, 1993 🙏🏿

34. “After Sunday Services” (c. 1940) by Laura Wheeler Waring

Connecticut-born artist Laura Wheeler Waring (1887 - 1948), who founded and taught in the art and music departments at the State Normal School at Cheyney (later Cheyney University of Pennsylvania—the oldest of all HBCUs), on what you didn’t see in the vast spectrum of Black life:

“Maybe you didn’t see brown in a rainbow . . . But brown WAS a rainbow, with orange and blue, red and green tucked inside, playing hide and seek.”

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35. “Negro Youth” (1929) by Loïs Mailou Jones

Boston-born artist Loïs Mailou Jones (1902 - 1998), who as a teacher at Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina founded the art department, coached basketball, taught folk dancing, plus played piano for Sunday services, on achieving recognition (in the arts) while being Black in America:

“They told me, ‘Loïs, you know you’re talented, but you’re not gonna make it in this country. You’re gonna have to go abroad’ - because the establishment here in this country was not interested in the work of Black artists.”

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36. “Tongues (Holy Rollers)” (1929) by Archibald Motley

New Orleans-born artist Archibald John Motley, Jr. (1891-1981), most famous for his colorful chronicling of the African-American experience in Chicago during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, on handling criticism with grace and dignity:

“Criticism has had absolutely no effect on my work although I well enjoy and sincerely appreciate the opinions of others.”

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The Silver Lining?

"Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor." Ruth 3:3

Aries Birthdays!

(March 21st - April 19th)

• April 5 - Pharrell Williams

• April 5 - Colin Powell

• April 5 - Booker T. Washington

• April 7 - Billie Holiday

• April 9 - Keshia Knight Pulliam & Jazmine Sullivan (today)!

• April 10 - Babyface

• April 10 - Q-Tip

• April 11 - Summer Walker

(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)

Meet me on the threshing floor

Quotes and Black Art - A Newsletter

Next issue is next Thursday:

• 11am (Pacific), 2pm (Eastern)

Want more?

• Follow on Instagram or on Threads (at Quotes and Black Art)

Quotes and Black Art.

Made by Jafari.

Silicon Valley’s most creative MBA.

2026 My STEM Grew Petals Publishing. A free-for-all.

Quotes and Black Art is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free subscriber.

Quotes and Black Art

Your Curated Art Museum

“Come for the art, stay for the quotes.”

“Sometimes we love the people we should hate, and we hate the people we love, and we’re topsy-turvy, but it’s like the song my dad likes to put on the record player when he’s had a little too much to drink: ‘It’s a thin line between love and hate.’”

— Christina Hammonds Reed, The Black Kids, 2020

A Snippet:

Did you know that shortly after publishing The Black Kids, Christina Hammonds Reed wrote in an article for Elle magazine, “I am lucky in many ways. Amid so many nightmares, a dream of mine is coming true: I wrote a book and it’s getting published. All my parents’ sacrifices are coming to fruition.”

Learn more . . .

Quotes and Black Art

Thursday, April 2, 2026 (Lesson 65)

“Make me want to holler, the way they do my life!”

— Marvin Gaye

193. “African Wonder” (1995) by Otto Neals

Brooklyn artist Otto Neals (b. 1931), who worked at the Brooklyn Post Office while creating in his spare time, on paying dues:

“My talent as an artist comes directly from my ancestors. I am merely a receiver, an instrument for receiving some of the energies that permeate our entire universe and I give thanks for having been chosen to absorb those artistic forces.”

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194. “The Messenger” (2008) by Noah Davis

Seattle born and Los Angeles-based artist Noah Davis (1983 - 2015), who went on to be with the Lord (succumbing to cancer) at age 32, on making a statement:

“If I’m making any statement, it’s to just show Black people in normal scenarios, where drugs and guns are nothing to do with it.”

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195. “They Were Very Poor, But Loved” by Brian Washington

Cincinnati, Ohio, artist Brian Washington (b. 1980), also an award-winning attorney, commenting on how we got over:

“We’ve made a lot of progress because ordinary people did extraordinary things.”

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The Silver Lining?

Pro Tip: Let us never forget the Golden Rule; always treat others the way we would want to be treated.

Ex: When dining in a group, make sure to refill (water, wine, etc.) your fellow diner's glasses (first!) before refilling your own. If anyone declines, politely respect their decision and move on to the next guest, the next empty glass.

Aries Birthdays!

(March 21st - April 19th)

• March 23rd - Chaka Khan

• March 25th - Arentha Franklin

• March 26th - Diana Ross

• March 27th - Mariah Carey

• April 2nd - Marvin Gaye (today)!

• April 3rd - Eddie Murphy

• April 4th - Maya Angelou

(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)

They were very poor, but loved

Quotes and Black Art - A Newsletter

Next issue is next Thursday:

• 11am (Pacific), 2pm (Eastern)

Want more?

• Follow on Instagram or on Threads (at Quotes and Black Art)

Quotes and Black Art.

Made by Jafari.

Silicon Valley’s most creative MBA.

2026 My STEM Grew Petals Publishing. A free-for-all.

Quotes and Black Art is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free subscriber.

Quotes and Black Art

Your Curated Art Museum

“Come for the art, stay for the quotes.”

"She’d learned early on about a certain unfairness in life. Some folks struggled disproportionately, carrying things that others couldn’t even lift."

— Diane Marie Brown, Black Candle Women, 2023

A Snippet:

Did you know that Diane Marie Brown, a professor at Orange Coast College and a public health professional for the Long Beach Health Department, received a BA and a Master of Public Health from UCLA, plus a degree in fiction from USC’s Master of Professional Writing Program? Incredible!

When discussing her varied accomplishments, Prof. Brown commented, “I want my students to know that they can have multiple passions . . . multiple careers.”

Learn more . . .

Quotes and Black Art

Thursday, March 26, 2026 (week 54)

“Being a woman is hard work. Not without joy and even ecstasy, but still relentless, unending work.”

— Maya Angelou, 1993

160. “Family” (1986) by Romare Bearden

Harlem Renaissance (aka New Negro Movement) artist Romare Bearden (1911 - 1988)—recognized as one of the most creative and original visual artists of the twentieth century, who once played for the Boston Tigers, a semi-professional, all-Black baseball team, before an unexpected injury caused him to devote a greater focus on his art—on making your mark on the world:

“To whom I would attribute [my drive] I don’t know, but I say that any artist that has this desire for a vision of the world, has something; There’s some painting someplace that’s not in a museum and it’s your idea as a painter to put that one thing that is missing there.”

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161. “Painter and Loid Struggle for Soul Control” (2001) by Trenton Doyle Hancock

Oklahoma City born (yet Paris, Texas, raised) artist Trenton Doyle Hancock (b. 1974) on the challenge of staying true to oneself—given the grey in between:

“At some point I realized the fractured self is the true self, and that to go by the script (of society telling you only have one road that you can go down) is actually the antithesis of the American dream. To acknowledge all of the pieces that go into making you a complete person is the route to go.”

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162. “one day in the living room, a spirit came upon her and filled her body with a dance she’d never known [channel]” (2022) by ruby onyinyechi amanze

Nigerian-born, British-American artist ruby onyinyechi amanze (b. 1982)—a Fulbright Scholar and Gaga practitioner (who described herself as a “secret dancer”)—on being born an artist:

“I’ve been making art, and identifying as an artist, since I was a small child. It has always been, everything I’ve wanted to do and be. My pursuit of it was single minded. At every point that there was an option, I chose art.”

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The Silver Lining?

...

(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)

Put some paint where it ain’t

Quotes and Black Art - A Newsletter

Next issue is next Thursday:

• 11am (Pacific), 2pm (Eastern)

Want more?

• Follow on Instagram or on Threads (at Quotes and Black Art)

Quotes and Black Art.

Made by Jafari.

Silicon Valley’s most creative MBA.

2026 My STEM Grew Petals Publishing. A free-for-all.

Quotes and Black Art is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free subscriber.

Quotes and Black Art

Your Curated Art Museum

“Come for the art, stay for the quotes.”

“I think that showing our character strengths and weaknesses just remains so much more true to who we can be as humans.”

— Kiley Reid (Author of Such A Fun Age, 2019)

A Snippet:

Did you know that American author Kiley Reid summed up her debut novel, Such a Fun Age, as, “A comedy of good intentions?”

Learn more . . .

Quotes and Black Art

Thursday, March 19, 2026 (week 14)

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

— MLK

40. “Grandmother and Child” (2019) by Leslie Barlow

Minnesota artist Leslie Barlow (b. 1989), a recipient of the 2025 McKnight Fellowship for Visual Artists, on racial identity and belonging:

“People hear the word ‘race’ and they get caught on that, and they don’t really think about that real human desire to belong, and to be in community with others.”

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41. “Change” (c. 2019 - 2021) by Nick Davis

St. Petersburg, Florida, artist Nick Davis (1991 - 2022), remembered for constructing an extensive collection of digital art on an iPad (gifted by his wife after epilepsy left him unable to pursue traditional work), on creating a chain reaction:

“It only takes one person to be impacted by who you are to cause a domino effect of change in the world.”

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42. “The Banjo Lesson” (1893) by Henry Ossawa Tanner

Pennsylvania artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859 - 1937), one of the first African-American painters to gain international acclaim (having moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian), on being judged on character:

“In Paris no one regards me curiously. I am simply Monsieur Tanner, an American artist. Nobody knows or cares what was the complexion of my forebears.”

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The Silver Lining?

The older I get, the more I desire to be one of the first dominos to fall -- rather than the last. Always! I second this notion by supporting folks early, celebrating their fulfillment over validation.

(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)

Domino effect

Quotes and Black Art - A Newsletter

Next issue is next Thursday:

• 11am (Pacific), 2pm (Eastern)

Want more?

• Follow on Instagram or on Threads (at Quotes and Black Art)

Quotes and Black Art.

Made by Jafari.

Silicon Valley’s most creative MBA.

2026 My STEM Grew Petals Publishing. A free-for-all.

Quotes and Black Art is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free subscriber.

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I’m celebrating my birthday week, so I’m taking a break from posting this week.

But don’t fret!

We’ll be back to our regular schedule next Thursday (Feb. 19, 2026)!

Do me a favor — reply to this message, and tell me the best gift that you’ve ever received during your birthday!

Mine was a giant M&M cookie my Mom got for me in preschool! I believe …

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