--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's time for Black people to stop…" description: "\"It's time for Black people to stop playing the separating game of geography, of where the slave ship put us down. We must concentrate on where the slav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/john-henrik-clarke-2865_black_it-s-time-for-black-people-to-stop-playi_1766362.png" --- # It's time for Black people to stop playing the separating… ![“It's time for Black people to stop playing the separating game of geography, of where the slave ship put us down. We must concentrate on where the slave ship picked us up.” quote by John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/john-henrik-clarke-2865_black_it-s-time-for-black-people-to-stop-playi_1766362.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/john-henrik-clarke-2865_black_it-s-time-for-black-people-to-stop-playi_1766362.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/john-henrik-clarke-2865_black_it-s-time-for-black-people-to-stop-playi_1766362.png) > “It's time for Black people to stop playing the separating game of geography, of where the slave ship put us down. We must concentrate on where the slave ship picked us up.” [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Focus on origins of liberation rather than oppression, urging empowerment through ancestral pride. **In simple terms:** Celebrate where you rise from. Key Takeaway Shift perspective to ancestral strength. Themes empowerment history identity Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - community activism - personal identity work Key Concepts diaspora studies post‑colonial theory Questions to Reflect On - How does ancestral pride influence your present? - What steps can you take to honor your origins? A Different Perspective Risk of ignoring present systemic challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Geography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geography/) [Geography Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geography-slave-1739503/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Separating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separating/) [Separating Game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separating-game-1739505/) [Ships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ships/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slave Ship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-ship-1739504/) [Slave ships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-ships/) [Stop Playing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-playing/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaudah-equiano/the-first-object-which-saluted-my-eyes-when-i-arrived-on-the-coast/) [Olaudah Equiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaudah-equiano/) > [Nobody had ever instructed him that a slave-ship, with a procession of expectant sharks in its wake, is a missionary institution, by which closely-packed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/nobody-had-ever-instructed-him-that-a-slave-ship-with-a-procession-of/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making real for people in Britain and America the slave ship's pervasive and utterly instrumental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement-lay-in-its-making-real-for/) [Marcus Rediker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-rediker/) > [Africans in the United States must remember that the slave ships brought no West Indians, no Caribbeans, no Jamaicans or Trinidadians or Barbadians to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/africans-in-the-united-states-must-remember-that-the-slave-ships/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [“A slave ship of the skies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gucci-mane/a-slave-ship-of-the-skies/) [Gucci Mane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gucci-mane/) > [from the slave ship to the citizenship we faced a lot of bullship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amiri-baraka/from-the-slave-ship-to-the-citizenship-we-faced-a-lot-of-bullship/) [Amiri Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amiri-baraka/) > [“How many movements began when an aesthetic encounter indelibly changed our past perceptions of the world? It was an abolitionist’s print, not logical argument,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/how-many-movements-began-when-an-aesthetic-encounter-indelibly/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [The Islamic community today is faced with a new version of an old struggle. My late mother used to say it doesn't matter whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-moseley-braun/the-islamic-community-today-is-faced-with-a-new-version-of-an-old/) [Carol Moseley Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-moseley-braun/) > [“PROGENY OF THE MIDDLE PASSAGE The leaky little tubs which the sea devours are the granddaughters of those slave ships. Today’s slaves, though no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/progeny-of-the-middle-passage-the-leaky-little-tubs-which-the-sea/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [The Supreme Court said nothing about silliness, but I suspect it may play more of a role than one might suppose. People are, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-supreme-court-said-nothing-about-silliness-but-i-suspect-it-may/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [In his fierce, bold determination to see the lives of modern-day slaves up close, Benjamin Skinner reminds me of the British abolitionist of two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/in-his-fierce-bold-determination-to-see-the-lives-of-modern-day/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/america-has-been-the-best-country-on-earth-for-black-folks-it-was/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [People can be slave-ships in shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/people-can-be-slave-ships-in-shoes/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [I be off the slave ships, building pyramids, writing my own hieroglyphs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-lamar/i-be-off-the-slave-ships-building-pyramids-writing-my-own-hieroglyphs/) [Kendrick Lamar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-lamar/) > [His foreparents came to America in immigrant ships. My foreparents came to America in slave ships. But whatever the original ships, we are both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/his-foreparents-came-to-america-in-immigrant-ships-my-foreparents/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) ## More by John Henrik Clarke > [Had Elijah Muhammad tried to introduce an orthodox form of Arab-oriented Islam, I doubt if he would have attracted 500 people, but he introduced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/had-elijah-muhammad-tried-to-introduce-an-orthodox-form-of-arab/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [My main point here is that if you are the child of God and God is a part of you, the in your imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/my-main-point-here-is-that-if-you-are-the-child-of-god-and-god-is-a/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Service is the highest form of prayer as far as I am concerned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/service-is-the-highest-form-of-prayer-as-far-as-i-am-concerned/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Man's most intelligent age may have gotten lost in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/man-s-most-intelligent-age-may-have-gotten-lost-in-history/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [I question the political judgement of those who would have the nerve to paint Christ white with his obvious African nose, lips and wooly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/i-question-the-political-judgement-of-those-who-would-have-the-nerve/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [My loving sister Mary has always shared the pain and pleasure of my heartbeat in a unique and special way. We have sung our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/my-loving-sister-mary-has-always-shared-the-pain-and-pleasure-of-my/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [There are some long silences in Scandinavian and some Japanese films, when the audience knows action is taking place, but the audience hears no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/there-are-some-long-silences-in-scandinavian-and-some-japanese-films/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [When I was able to go to school in my early years, my third grade teacher, Ms. Harris, convinced me that one day I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/when-i-was-able-to-go-to-school-in-my-early-years-my-third-grade/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Violence among all people is based on dissatisfaction, frustration and crushed ambition and people who don't know who to strike at and who to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/violence-among-all-people-is-based-on-dissatisfaction-frustration-and/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [What we might have been dealing with here - with the building of the Pyramids - is an age that got lost. Man had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/what-we-might-have-been-dealing-with-here-with-the-building-of-the/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Slavery ended and left its false images of black people intact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/slavery-ended-and-left-its-false-images-of-black-people-intact/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [History is a compass that you locate yourself on the map of human geography, politically, culturally, financially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/history-is-a-compass-that-you-locate-yourself-on-the-map-of-human/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [You walk out in the street, we don't know if we're going to get across. It's a test.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/you-walk-out-in-the-street-we-don-t-know-if-we-re-going-to-get-across/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Nothing the European mind ever devised was meant to do anything but to facilitate the European's control over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/nothing-the-european-mind-ever-devised-was-meant-to-do-anything-but/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Break all the TVs, burn all the Bibles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/break-all-the-tvs-burn-all-the-bibles/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) [Explore all 147 John Henrik Clarke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) ## More Black 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/) > [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/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. 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