Barbara Gardner Proctor

"I think blacks have a different acceptance of reality than white people. Were more realistic."

"It became quite apparent to me that if I did not begin to control my own destiny, I was going to have it changed about every five minutes. So I took the time, energy, and expense to start my own agency."

"I couldnt spell, which was a job handicap."

"You can only do it when you don’t know you can’t do it."

"The only thing you could train for if you were a black girl in the South, rural, poor, was a teacher or hairdresser, and a nurse."

"There was never any reason for me to succeed. I had no business experience, I had no capital, I had absolutely nothing but a strong gut feeling that I had something to say in this business, and nobody was going to tell me how to do it."

"Nothing is more absurd. Power is sexless."

"We made it clear that we were different. We said that we would not take liquor and cigarettes, which was kind of an interesting position for a small [advertising] agency to come out with – starting out by saying who we weren’t interested in."

"When you buy inclusion and acceptance with conformity, the price bankrupts us spiritually. My greatest wealth is not financial. It is peace of mind."

"It was during the days of the black revolution, and they wanted me to do a ‘foam-in’ demonstration in the streets, with women running down the streets waving hair spray cans. I said I would never do that."