--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As Black people, if there is one thing we…" description: "\"“As Black people, if there is one thing we can learn from the 60s, it is how infinitely complex any move for liberation must be. For we must move again..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/audre-lorde-758_black-people_as-black-people-if-there-is-one-thing-we_877368.jpg" --- # As Black people, if there is one thing we can learn from… ![“As Black people, if there is one thing we can learn from the 60s, it is how infinitely complex any move for liberation must be. For we must move against not only those forces which dehumanize us from the outside, but also against those oppressive values which we have been forced to take into…” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/audre-lorde-758_black-people_as-black-people-if-there-is-one-thing-we_877368.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/audre-lorde-758_black-people_as-black-people-if-there-is-one-thing-we_877368.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/audre-lorde-758_black-people_as-black-people-if-there-is-one-thing-we_877368.jpg) > ““As Black people, if there is one thing we can learn from the 60s, it is how infinitely complex any move for liberation must be. For we must move against not only those forces which dehumanize us from the outside, but also against those oppressive values which we have been forced to take into ourselves. Through examining the combination of our triumphs and errors, we can examine the dangers of an incomplete vision. Not to condemn that vision but to alter it, construct templates for possible futures, and focus our rage for change upon our enemies rather than upon each other.”” [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Liberation requires confronting both external oppression and internalized oppressive values, fostering self‑analysis and collective change. **In simple terms:** Freeing ourselves means battling outside forces and internalized oppression. Key Takeaway Critically examine internalized oppression. Themes freedom self‑analysis social justice collective action Mood provocative hopeful Type essay manifesto When to use this quote - activism - education - community organizing Key Concepts intersectionality internalized oppression transformative praxis Questions to Reflect On - How do we recognize internalized oppression? - What steps create constructive collective visions? A Different Perspective Change can be slow and met with resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Learn 60S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learn-60s-1017940/) [Liberation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberation/) [Oppressive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppressive/) [Oppressive Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppressive-values-1017939/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) ## Related quotes > [Hopefully, we can learn from the 60s that we cannot afford to do our enemies work by destroying each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/hopefully-we-can-learn-from-the-60s-that-we-cannot-afford-to-do-our/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [When I look at American history, I see how it has been driven by resistance and protest against a system that has been oppressive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaal-bowman/when-i-look-at-american-history-i-see-how-it-has-been-driven-by/) [Jamaal Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaal-bowman/) > [The true focus of revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situations that we seek to escape, but that piece of the oppressor which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-true-focus-of-revolutionary-change-is-never-merely-the-oppressive/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The movement for black lives isn't just about black people. Black liberation has never just been about black people. It's been about a fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrisse-cullors/the-movement-for-black-lives-isn-t-just-about-black-people-black/) [Patrisse Cullors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrisse-cullors/) > [The titanic effort that has brought liberation to South Africa, and ensured the total liberation of Africa, constitutes an act of redemption for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/the-titanic-effort-that-has-brought-liberation-to-south-africa-and/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [“If it supports the liberation struggle of Black people then it is good. If it is in opposition to the liberation struggle of Black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-it-supports-the-liberation-struggle-of-black-people-then-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Within the lesbian community I am Black, and within the Black community I am a lesbian. Any attack against Black people is a lesbian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/within-the-lesbian-community-i-am-black-and-within-the-black/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Without community, there is no liberation...but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/without-community-there-is-no-liberation-but-community-must-not-mean/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Well of course there's been a great deal of progress over the last 40 years. We don't have laws that segregate black people within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/well-of-course-there-s-been-a-great-deal-of-progress-over-the-last-40/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Black Privilege is a concrete motive that black people benefit from, such as racism but racism on whites. Black people don't know it but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/black-privilege-is-a-concrete-motive-that-black-people-benefit-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'll start with the reality. If we're having problems nationally, we're having problems on the state level and then on the local level, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/i-ll-start-with-the-reality-if-we-re-having-problems-nationally-we-re/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [Black people are not often considered mainstream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamman-rucker/black-people-are-not-often-considered-mainstream/) [Lamman Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamman-rucker/) > [Sadly, black people disassociate ourselves from the things which make us who we are, identifying them as lesser, or inferior. It's a form of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-parker/sadly-black-people-disassociate-ourselves-from-the-things-which-make/) [Nate Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-parker/) > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) ## More by Audre Lorde > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [There are many kinds of open. . . Love is a word, another kind of open. . . Take my word for jewel in your open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-many-kinds-of-open-love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-take/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Your silence will not protect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/your-silence-will-not-protect-you/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-can-t-really-define-it-in-sexual-terms-alone-although-our-sexuality/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-once-we-begin-to-feel-deeply-all-the-aspects-of-our-lives-we/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [the fear of death is that you are dying too soon. Nobody wants to, but at the point that you die you can pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-fear-of-death-is-that-you-are-dying-too-soon-nobody-wants-to-but/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“There is an important difference between openness and naïveté. Not everyone has good intentions nor means me well. I remind myself I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-is-an-important-difference-between-openness-and-na-vet-not/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/what-are-the-words-you-do-not-yet-have-what-do-you-need-to-say-what/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-only-dream-and-vision-it-is-the-skeleton-architecture/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I think that in America there are certain kinds of problems and in Russia there are certain kinds of problems, but basically, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-think-that-in-america-there-are-certain-kinds-of-problems-and-in/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Institutionalized rejection of differences is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/institutionalized-rejection-of-differences-is-an-absolute-necessity/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-sharing-of-joy-whether-physical-emotional-psychic-or-intellectual/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I forgot what we were celebrating. Because we were always celebrating something, a new job, a new poem, a new love, a new dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-forgot-what-we-were-celebrating-because-we-were-always-celebrating/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [How a diamond comes into a knot of flame How a sound comes into a word, coloured By who pays what for speaking. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/how-a-diamond-comes-into-a-knot-of-flame-how-a-sound-comes-into-a/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) [Explore all 377 Audre Lorde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## More Black people quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Black Privilege is a concrete motive that black people benefit from, such as racism but racism on whites. Black people don't know it but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/black-privilege-is-a-concrete-motive-that-black-people-benefit-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Acknowledging that my skin was, in fact, Cocoa as it is, would have destroyed their narrative about who I really was. Therefore they had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitta-xinindlu/acknowledging-that-my-skin-was-in-fact-cocoa-as-it-is-would-have/) [Mitta Xinindlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitta-xinindlu/) > [Well of course there's been a great deal of progress over the last 40 years. We don't have laws that segregate black people within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/well-of-course-there-s-been-a-great-deal-of-progress-over-the-last-40/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/what-would-america-be-like-if-we-loved-black-people-as-much-as-we/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [“Any ministry to black people which is not designed to effect their empowerment is designed to perpetuate their enslavement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-ministry-to-black-people-which-is-not-designed-to-effect-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All black people who are even minimally conscious, black people who have ever experienced Europe's technological power crusading in the vanguard of a civilizing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-nkosi/all-black-people-who-are-even-minimally-conscious-black-people-who/) [Lewis Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-nkosi/) > [Even during my youth, I can recall very few black people living on any kind of public assistance. People were working, doing some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-smith/even-during-my-youth-i-can-recall-very-few-black-people-living-on-any/) [Ed Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-smith/) > [There is no one American beauty or just one beautiful color in the pantheon, especially in regards to black people - there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/latanya-richardson/there-is-no-one-american-beauty-or-just-one-beautiful-color-in-the/) [LaTanya Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/latanya-richardson/) > [Saying women aren't funny is now like saying Asians can't drive or saying black people have bad credit. It's just really, like, so obsolete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-cummings/saying-women-aren-t-funny-is-now-like-saying-asians-can-t-drive-or/) [Whitney Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-cummings/) > [It's so Canada. On some level, you laugh, but on another level, it's just depressing. We pride ourselves: We're not like the bad old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-backhouse/it-s-so-canada-on-some-level-you-laugh-but-on-another-level-it-s-just/) [Constance Backhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-backhouse/) [Browse all 1,587 Black people quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As Black people, if there is one thing we can learn from the 60s, it is how infinitely complex any move for liberation must be. For we must move against not only those forces which dehumanize us from the outside, but also against those oppressive values which we have been forced to take into ourselves. Through examining the combination of our triumphs and errors, we can examine the dangers of an incomplete vision. 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