This quote emphasizes the immense power and promise inherent in young people. It calls for the bravery to make necessary changes, suggesting that empowering youth is key to progress, even if it requires challenging old ways.
Quote by Mary McLeod Bethune: “We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change.”
We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change.
Insight
Historical Context
Issued in the mid-1950s in her "Last Will and Testament", this statement came at a pivotal time when African American youth were beginning to demand greater rights and opportunities. Bethune's words sought to empower them while urging society to embrace progressive change for collective betterment.
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American educator and civil rights leader who founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904, which eventually became Bethune-Cookman University. She served as an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, and was one of the most influential Black women in American public life of the twentieth century.
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