--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Optimistic, because even though the year…" description: "\"“Optimistic, because even though the year of Obama's birth Herbert Lee, a black farmer with nine children, was shot in the head for trying to register ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/faith-adiele-46558_black-girl_optimistic-because-even-though-the-year_3115421.jpg" --- # Optimistic, because even though the year of Obama's birth… ![“Optimistic, because even though the year of Obama's birth Herbert Lee, a black farmer with nine children, was shot in the head for trying to register black voters, it was also the year the Freedom Rides rocked the South and established a generation of youth leaders. Optimistic, because even though…” quote by Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/faith-adiele-46558_black-girl_optimistic-because-even-though-the-year_3115421.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/faith-adiele-46558_black-girl_optimistic-because-even-though-the-year_3115421.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/faith-adiele-46558_black-girl_optimistic-because-even-though-the-year_3115421.jpg) > ““Optimistic, because even though the year of Obama's birth Herbert Lee, a black farmer with nine children, was shot in the head for trying to register black voters, it was also the year the Freedom Rides rocked the South and established a generation of youth leaders. Optimistic, because even though the year of my birth the Klan bombed four little black girls in a Birmingham church and Medgar Evers and President Kennedy were gunned down, it was also the year that established our road map for today - America's dispossessed marching on Washington in unprecedented numbers to demand freedom and articulate our dream.”” [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical tragedies coexist with progress; acknowledging pain fuels hope and collective action. **In simple terms:** Pain and progress happen together. Key Takeaway Use history to inspire change. Themes history hope activism racial justice Mood reflective hopeful Type political inspirational When to use this quote - civil rights protests - community organizing - education reform Key Concepts intergenerational trauma social movements collective memory Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor past suffering while advancing? - What actions turn hope into change? A Different Perspective Optimism may overlook ongoing systemic oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-girl/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Road map](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road-map/) ## Related quotes > [But, based on my friendship with Evie as young mothers, I started going on freedom rides in 1966.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-jordan/but-based-on-my-friendship-with-evie-as-young-mothers-i-started-going/) [June Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-jordan/) > [I continued the sit-ins, got on the Freedom Rides and became an active participant not just in Nashville but throughout the American South.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis/i-continued-the-sit-ins-got-on-the-freedom-rides-and-became-an-active/) [John Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis/) > [No one talked about the fact that in this year under the Obama administration you've seen the highest casualties in Afghanistan. And the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-west/no-one-talked-about-the-fact-that-in-this-year-under-the-obama/) [Allen West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-west/) > [The debt they ran up in the first year of the Obama administration is bigger than the last four years of the Bush combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-mcconnell/the-debt-they-ran-up-in-the-first-year-of-the-obama-administration-is/) [Mitch McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-mcconnell/) > [You know what really made me sick? I was in Washington, D.C. at another time reading in a paper where the U.S. gives Byron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/you-know-what-really-made-me-sick-i-was-in-washington-d-c-at-another/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I don't think my success or me having the opportunity to have success is from our generation. I think it's from the generations before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-dash/i-don-t-think-my-success-or-me-having-the-opportunity-to-have-success/) [Damon Dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-dash/) > [“There was one story that anger certainly lit the fuse of. In the 1960's, in my home town of Jackson, the civil rights leader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/there-was-one-story-that-anger-certainly-lit-the-fuse-of-in-the-1960/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [I was sitting on the bus, and the sign said if you're ready to better your life, come to Medgar Evers College, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/i-was-sitting-on-the-bus-and-the-sign-said-if-you-re-ready-to-better/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [In California, Jim Jones even staged a shooting of himself. The lesson of this was two-fold. One, that he was a god - he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-scheeres/in-california-jim-jones-even-staged-a-shooting-of-himself-the-lesson/) [Julia Scheeres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-scheeres/) > [I'm old enough to have lived through a time when Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Viola Liuzzo, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hauser/i-m-old-enough-to-have-lived-through-a-time-when-martin-luther-king/) [Thomas Hauser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hauser/) > [Medgar Evers is a true Mississippi hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-espy/medgar-evers-is-a-true-mississippi-hero/) [Mike Espy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-espy/) > [Medgar Evers was assassinated in his driveway retuning from an NAACP meeting in downtown Jackson. And then you go back there years later, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis/medgar-evers-was-assassinated-in-his-driveway-retuning-from-an-naacp/) [John Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis/) > [It's easy to forget history or give it a cliff notes. The cliff notes of history. But mainly, so much of what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tate-taylor/it-s-easy-to-forget-history-or-give-it-a-cliff-notes-the-cliff-notes/) [Tate Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tate-taylor/) > [I was in jail when Medgar Evers was murdered and nothing, I mean nothing has been done about that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-was-in-jail-when-medgar-evers-was-murdered-and-nothing-i-mean/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [Did you ever stop to thnk about all the people we kill? They're always people who tell us to live together in harmony and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/did-you-ever-stop-to-thnk-about-all-the-people-we-kill-they-re-always/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) ## More by Faith Adiele > [I see a lot of people who have amazing stories but have been told that their work, their lives, and their stories and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-see-a-lot-of-people-who-have-amazing-stories-but-have-been-told/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) > [I do find that people are incredibly naive about what it is to be a writer. Like you would pay an incredible amount of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-do-find-that-people-are-incredibly-naive-about-what-it-is-to-be-a/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) > [I have a theory that, for people of color or others who have been cut out of the master narrative, just telling your personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-have-a-theory-that-for-people-of-color-or-others-who-have-been-cut/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) > [“I think that the individual cannot exist in a vacuum. Cannot exist in isolation. He is the member of a tribe, a church, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-think-that-the-individual-cannot-exist-in-a-vacuum-cannot-exist-in/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) > [I you're writing memoir, but it even comes up in fiction. People just assume that you're writing thinly veiled autobiography. And particularly, I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-you-re-writing-memoir-but-it-even-comes-up-in-fiction-people-just/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) > [When I say my work is travel, that's what I'm doing. And part of being biracial and multicultural is I'm always playing with genre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/when-i-say-my-work-is-travel-that-s-what-i-m-doing-and-part-of-being/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) > [“I am a new generation of Africans. We believe in the future role of that continent. We are convinced it has a destiny and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-am-a-new-generation-of-africans-we-believe-in-the-future-role-of/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) [Explore all 8 Faith Adiele quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) ## More Black girl quotes > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [“But beneath them all, at the very bottom of the stack, is a worn and slightly tattered magazine called African Mamas Sucking Hog. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus-iii/but-beneath-them-all-at-the-very-bottom-of-the-stack-is-a-worn-and/) [Andre Dubus III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus-iii/) > [I wasn't seeing black girls in the books I was assigned to read at my school. I was tired of only reading about white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marley-dias/i-wasn-t-seeing-black-girls-in-the-books-i-was-assigned-to-read-at-my/) [Marley Dias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marley-dias/) > [For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish ora German girl scrubbing floors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/for-every-nineteenth-century-middle-class-family-that-protected-its/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [Plus I'm gettin that money, I can throw some stacks girl, famous in the hood u can post me in a black girl. Aye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oj-da-juiceman/plus-i-m-gettin-that-money-i-can-throw-some-stacks-girl-famous-in-the/) [OJ Da Juiceman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oj-da-juiceman/) > [I was bullied at school. The black girl in Central Falls, Rhode Island, in 1973. There'd be 8 or 10 boys; I would count…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viola-davis/i-was-bullied-at-school-the-black-girl-in-central-falls-rhode-island/) [Viola Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viola-davis/) > [“This Book is Dedicated to Black Girls Everywhere. You are Powerful. You are Beautiful. You are Loved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-jos-older/this-book-is-dedicated-to-black-girls-everywhere-you-are-powerful-you/) [Daniel José Older](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-jos-older/) > [When I was a teenager, I was the only black girl at a small, private Episcopal school, where my tuition was paid by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-was-the-only-black-girl-at-a-small-private/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I always want black girls to feel confident in who they are, and in their skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-runway/i-always-want-black-girls-to-feel-confident-in-who-they-are-and-in/) [Bree Runway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-runway/) > [I really do hope 'The Hate U Give' provides mirrors for readers who don't often get them in books. I've had so many young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-thomas/i-really-do-hope-the-hate-u-give-provides-mirrors-for-readers-who-don/) [Angie Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-thomas/) > [“And I know that there are black boys and black girls out there lost in a Bermuda triangle of the mind or stranded in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/and-i-know-that-there-are-black-boys-and-black-girls-out-there-lost/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [The great thing about Meg in 'A Wrinkle In Time' and Shuri in 'Black Panther' is that none of them are stereotypes of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-russell/the-great-thing-about-meg-in-a-wrinkle-in-time-and-shuri-in-black/) [Taylor Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-russell/) > [“Honor Roll Like a Black Girl.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lahart/honor-roll-like-a-black-girl/) [Stephanie Lahart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lahart/) > [“Melanin is an incomparable beauty. From the lightest to the darkest skin tone, Black women and Black girls are exquisite beauty in every shade.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lahart/melanin-is-an-incomparable-beauty-from-the-lightest-to-the-darkest/) [Stephanie Lahart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lahart/) > [I don't belive Oprah's sexual abuse stories, I mean who would take a black girl when there are plenty of white?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/i-don-t-belive-oprah-s-sexual-abuse-stories-i-mean-who-would-take-a/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) [Browse all 233 Black girl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-girl/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Optimistic, because even though the year of Obama's birth Herbert Lee, a black farmer with nine children, was shot in the head for trying to register black voters, it was also the year the Freedom Rides rocked the South and established a generation of youth leaders. 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