Meet me on the threshing floor
Quotes and Black Art | Thursdaysº
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.”
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.”
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.”
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
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