Top 7 Quotes & Sayings by Henry Hampton

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American activist Henry Hampton.

Last updated on April 14, 2025.

Henry Eugene Hampton Jr. was an African-American filmmaker. His production company, Blackside, Inc., produced over 80 programs—the most recognizable being the documentary Eyes on the Prize, which won Emmy Awards, Peabody Awards, and was nominated for an Oscar.

American - Activist | August 19, 1940 - November 22, 1998

Source: Wikipedia

On the one hand, there is no reason that a black person needs to live a portion of his or her life being concerned about the people of color around him. On the other hand, if you don't you're crazy.

Henry Hampton

If you're black in America, race is a factor in your life. Start with that assumption.

Henry Hampton

Everybody needs history but the people who need it most are poor folks - people without resources or options.

Henry Hampton

We don't have a full black community in Boston. Our people are scattered. There's a middle class where I live in Highland Park but it's not like a piece of Washington or Chicago.

Henry Hampton

Food might be more immediately important than history but if you don't understand what's been done to you - by your own people and the so-called 'they' - you can never get around it.

Henry Hampton

What drives people to public service is a sense of possibility. If you haven't sensed that possibility you don't get started in the same way, you don't feel you can have an impact.

Henry Hampton

Eyes is the attempt to tell the story of the Civil Rights movement and to create an emotional, intellectual constituency. But what do you do after that? The black community doesn't have institutions that pick up such moments and preserve them.

Henry Hampton

Top 7 Quotes & Sayings by Henry Hampton

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