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SCHOOL OF BLACK WOMAN EXCELLENCE
The Aureate Academy
Since 2019
Black History Month 2021:
28 Days of Black Excellence
February 28, 2021
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“Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all, including the Black women who are often too often overlooked, but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy.” - Madam Vice President Kamala Harris
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“My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.’ That’s why breaking those barriers is worth it. As much as anything else, it is also to create that path for those who will come after us.” - Madam Vice President Kamala Harris
“What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters.” - Madam Vice President Kamala Harris
Community Activity: Reflect on your impact on the world.
February 27, 2021
“Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.” - Dr. Mae Jemison
“Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.” - Dr. Mae Jemison
Community Activity: Listen to "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley
February 26, 2021
"I was able to stand on the shoulders of those women who came before me, and women who came after me were able to stand on mine." - Christine Darden
Community Activity: Watch "Hidden Figures"
February 25, 2021
“Apparent failure may hold in its rough shell the germs of a success that will blossom in time, and bear fruit throughout eternity.” - Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
“The respect that is only bought by gold is not worth much.” - Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Community Activity: Learn about Bayard Rustin
“To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true.” - Bayard Rustin
February 24, 2021
“There will be mistakes and there will be falters. There will be things that are not a part of your plan. See the challenges in your life and accept them and embrace them.” - Dominique Dawes
“I struggled with self-esteem issues as a young girl, and it was not until my gymnastics career was completed in 2000 that I realized my accomplishments would not have been possible without my type of body, and I finally started to appreciate and celebrate myself.” - Dominique Dawes
Community Activity: Reflect on the Writings of W.E.B. Du Bois
“Education is that whole system of human training within and without the school house walls, which molds and develops men.” - W. E. B. Du Bois
February 23, 2021
“I've always known I was gifted, which is not the easiest thing in the world for a person to know, because you're not responsible for your gift, only for what you do with it.” - Hazel Scott
“Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can't go hand in hand, I don't want to go.” - Hazel Scott
Community Activity: Appreciate the Greatness of Muhammad Ali
"Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even." - Muhammad Ali
February 22, 2021
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“I constantly felt (as I suppose many an ambitious girl has felt) a thumping from within unanswered by any beckoning from without.” - Anna Julia Cooper
“The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class—it is the cause of human kind, the very birthright of humanity.” - Anna Julia Cooper
Community Activity: Honor the Legacy of John Lewis
“What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and it’s grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.” - John Lewis
February 21, 2021
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"In the darkness and the futility of the moment you have to get up and keep going, put one foot in front of the other. It's only in trying and keeping going that you achieve." - Raven Wilkinson
“My never-ending question is: When are we going to get a Swan Queen of a darker hue? How long can we deny people that position? Do we feel aesthetically we can't face it? I think until we start seeing it regularly, we'll never believe it. But I'm sure that won't take another 60 years to happen.” - Raven Wilkinson
Community Activity: Honor the Legacy of Malcolm X
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” - Malcolm X
February 20, 2021
“Good manners will often take people where neither money nor education will take them.” - Fanny Jackson Coppin
Community Activity: Reflect on the work of Booker T. Washington
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” - Booker T. Washington
February 19, 2021
“When you see attitudes that hurt others, or limit their opportunities, you can say to yourself: what is my part in this? Can I be a catalyst for change in my school, on my block, in my church, wherever I am?” - Rachel Robinson
“We treated our home like a haven and when you come into a haven you don't want to bring in painful things. You want to cherish it. You use the haven to get yourself ready for the next day." - Rachel Robinson
Community Activity: Remember Jackie Robinson
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” - Jackie Robinson
February 18, 2021
“I wish you power that equals your intelligence and your strength. I wish you success that equals your talent and determination. And I wish you faith.” - Betty Shabazz
“Love yourself, appreciate yourself, see the good in you... and respect yourself.” - Betty Shabazz
Community Activity: Read the poem,"Ballad of Birmingham" by Dudley Randall
February 17, 2021
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“You can't be all you are meant to be if you think you are better than others, and you can't be all you are meant to be if you think you are less than others, either.” - Ruby Dee
“You can only appreciate freedom when you find yourself in a position to fight for someone else's freedom and not worry about your own.” - Ruby Dee
Community Activity: Research Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr.
February 16, 2021
"You're blessed if you have the strength to work." - Mahalia Jackson
"Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them." - Mahalia Jackson
Community Activity: Research Carter G. Woodson, the "Father of Black History"
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“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” - Carter G. Woodson
February 15, 2021
“Until I am welcomed everywhere as an equal simply because I am human, I remain a warrior on a battlefield that I must not leave. I continue to be a warrior who does not cry but who instead takes action. If one person is denied equality, we are all denied equality.” - Melba Pattillo Beals
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“If you go only where you are welcome, that’s where other people want you to go, not where you choose to go. You’re limited by their vision—not living your own dreams.” - Melba Pattillo Beals
Community Activity: Research the "Little Rock Nine"
February 14, 2021
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“Well, we all know that self-esteem comes from what you think of you, not what other people think of you.” - Gloria Gaynor
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“I've got all my life to live, and I've got all my love to give.” - Gloria Gaynor
Community Activity: Listen to James Brown's "Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud"
February 13, 2021
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“My story is a freedom song of struggle. It is about finding one's purpose, how to overcome fear and to stand up for causes bigger than one's self.” - Coretta Scott King
“My story is a freedom song from within my soul. It is a guide to discovery, a vision of how even the worst pain and heartaches can be channeled into human monuments, impenetrable and everlasting.” - Coretta Scott King
Community Activity: Appreciate Bisa Butler's Quilted Art Masterpieces
Asantewa, 2020
February 12, 2021
“I have to constantly re-identify myself to myself, reactivate my own standards, my own convictions about what I’m doing and why.” - Nina Simone
“There’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.” - Nina Simone
Community Activity: Research Heart Surgery Pioneer, Vivien T. Thomas
February 11, 2021
“I never looked for anybody to hold the door open for me. I knew well that the only way I could get that door open was to knock it down: because I knocked all of them down.” - Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
“Don't let anything stop you. There will be times when you'll be disappointed, but you can't stop.” - Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
Community Activity: Read "Coal" by Audre Lorde
February 10, 2021
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“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” - Marian Wright Edelman
“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” - Marian Wright Edelman
Community Activity: Find your favorite fashion design by Zelda Wynn Valdes
February 9, 2021
“All token Blacks have the same experience. I have been pointed at as a solution to things that have not yet begun to be solved, because pointing at us token Blacks eases consciences of millions, and this is dreadfully wrong.” - Leontyne Price
“Who I am is the best I can be.” - Leontyne Price
Community Activity: Start a book by a Black author
February 8, 2021
"Those gains we have made were never graciously and generously granted. We have had to fight every inch of the way — in the face of sometimes insufferable humiliations." - Jane Bolin
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"Families and children are so important to our society, and to dedicate your life to trying to improve their lives is completely satisfying." - Jane Bolin
Community Activity: Listen to Amanda Gorman's recitation of her Super Bowl LV Poem, "Chorus of the Captains"
February 7, 2021
"I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work." - Augusta Savage
"From the time I can first recall the rain falling on the red clay in Florida. I wanted to make things. When my brothers and sisters were making mud pies, I would be making ducks and chickens with the mud." - Augusta Savage
Community Activity: Listen to a song by Nat "King" Cole
Autumn Leaves, 1955
February 6, 2021
"My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities." - Diana Ross
"You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself." - Diana Ross
Community Activity: Find Your Favorite "Jacob Lawrence" Piece
Brownstones, 1958
February 5, 2021
"Don't follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you!" - Ruby Bridges
"I now know that experience comes to us for a purpose, and if we follow the guidance of the spirit within us, we will probably find that the purpose is a good one." - Ruby Bridges
Community Activity: Read "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou
February 4, 2021
“The flowers absorb the sunshine because it is their nature. I give out melody because God filled my soul with it.” - Sissieretta Jones
Community Activity: Read "I, Too" by Langston Hughes
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February 3, 2021
“Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.” - Dorothy Height
“I want to be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she could touch to work for justice and freedom…. I want to be remembered as one who tried.” - Dorothy Height
Community Activity: Listen to Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come"
February 2, 2021
“There is no such thing as freedom without discipline. The one who is free is disciplined.” - Janet Collins
“The reason I became ballerina of the Metropolitan Opera was because I couldn't be topped. You don't get there because, you get there in spite of.” - Janet Collins
Community Activity: Read Amanda Gorman's Inaugural Poem, "The Hill We Climb"
February 1, 2021
“I want to be recalled as one who squared my shoulders in the service of Black women, as one who made us walk taller and envision greater for ourselves.” - Cicely Tyson
“Whatever good I have accomplished as an actress I believe came in direct proportion to my efforts to portray Black women who have made positive contributions to my heritage.” - Cicely Tyson
Community Activity: Stream Regina King's "One Night in Miami"
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