Black History In Its Own Words started in January 2015 when Matt Bors asked me to find eight quotes and illustrate them for The Nib for February, Black History Month. I chose quotes ranging from the casual to the profound from luminaries both past and present. I had so much fun that I did four extra. The next year, 2016, I drafted 12 more; I had a habit. Presented here are the original 24 as well as 15 new ones for 2017.

Angela Yvonne Davis - --MC Ride - -- George Joseph Herriman - -- Ice Cube - -- Saul Williams - -- Dave Chappelle - -- Spike Lee - -- Arturo Alfonso Schomburg - -- Laverne Cox - -- James Baldwin - -- Audre Lorde - -- Lena Horne - -- Kimberly Bryant - -- Fred Hampton - -- Serena Williams - -- Poly Styrene - -- Mykki Blanco - -- Octavia Butler - -- Zadie Smith - -- Kanye West - -- Shirley Chisholm - -- Jean-Michel Basquiat - -- Lee "Scratch" Perry - -- Marsha P. Johnson - -- Assata Shakur - -- Prince - -- Cathay Williams - -- Nina Simone - -- Muhammad Ali - -- Young M.A. - -- Sojourner Truth - -- Cheryl Dunye - -- Emory Douglas - -- Rammellzee - -- Jimi Hendrix - -- Katherine Johnson - -- Mary Ellen Pleasant - -- Eugene Bullard - -- Bell Hooks.