55 Quotes by Constance Baker Motley

When I was 15, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. No one thought this was a good idea

King consciously steered away from legal claims and instead relied on civil disobedience.

I got the chance to argue my first case in Supreme Court, a criminal case arising in Alabama that involved the right of a defendant to counsel at a critical stage in a capital case before a trial.

Had it not been for James Meredith, who was willing to risk his life, the University of Mississippi would still be all white.

We knew then what we know now; only exemplary blacks are acceptable.

We African Americans have now spent the major part of the 20th Century battling racism

I rejected the notion that my race or sex would bar my success in life.

Sexism, like racism, goes with us into the next century. I see class warfare as overshadowing both.

In high school, I won a prize for an essay on tuberculosis. When I got through writing the essay, I was sure I had the disease.