With each passing day the assault on all things Black increases.
The Department of Defense’s removal of the Tuskegee Airmen and Jackie Robinson from the DoD’s official webpage. The DoD no longer acknowledges Black History Month. The U.S. Army erased Civil Rights Movement hero and U.S. military veteran Medgar Evers’ marker from the Arlington National Cemetery.
Though all these anti-Black moves were eventually reversed, the fact that the President Donald Trump administration made them in the first place is telling. And they provide even more reasons why teaching, learning and sharing Black history is more important now than ever. That includes our global history.
To that end, the Defender gathered critical pieces of Black History—African proverbs—that have provided impactful wisdom sayings for our people for eons. The goal here is to identify which of these wisdom sayings speak to the needs and issues Black people are facing in 2025.
In other words, can these elements of Black History impact the quality of Black life today?
Here’s what those interviewed shared by way of African proverbs and their contemporary relevance.
“He who knows does not die like he who does not know.” (Yoruba Proverb)
University of Texas graduate Oshunfemi “Zinetta” Williams, an activist legend during the 1980s while a student, is an educator who regularly employs African proverbs in her lesson plans.
Recently, she shared this one with her 7th graders – “He who knows does not die like he who does not know.”
Williams explained the meaning she extracts from these words.
“When one has knowledge about a particular situation or circumstance, one can avoid destructive situations,” said Williams. “It’s like you know yo’ mama told you to not hang out with Bubba & ‘nem, you listened to her. And when they got caught vandalizing the school you were not with them and therefore didn’t have to go to Alternative School like they did and miss the end-of-year dance. All because you listened to yo’ mama.”
Williams explained how this applies to Black people as a whole currently.
“Since we see the attacks on Black people by politicians and others, we know they have a lack of respect for us. When we know this, we can move in the world accordingly by supporting our own businesses, teaching our history to our children and more,” shared Williams. “Those of us who don’t know this will probably move in ways that set them up to be disrespected even more. In other words, listen to yo’ mama.”
“A chattering bird builds no nest.” (Cameroon and Uganda)
Marcus Brown, a consultant in the energy field, takes the ancient African wisdom words from Cameroon/Uganda to mean something Black people in 2025 should take to heart.
“You have to focus your efforts on the task to get it done,” said Brown. “Basically, don’t talk about it, be about it.”
“Blessed are those who struggle.” (The Last Poets)
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Kamau Jackson, a wise elder in his own right, shared an African wisdom quote from the group of revolutionary word-sayers who came to prominence in the 1960s – The Last Poets.
Many view the group of conscious, liberation-focused brothers as the precursors to the hip-hop artists who hit the scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
When asked how the African proverb he chose speaks to Black people’s reality in 2025, he stated an expanded version of this particular wisdom saying, suggesting its contemporary meaning is self-explanatory:
“Blessed are those who struggle. Oppression is worse than the grave. Better to die for a noble cause, than to live and die a slave.”
