I think we've made tremendous progress on racism. We've even made progress on war. We've made almost no progress on poverty.

We were trying to transform America, not triumph over white folk.

He [Martin Luther King Jr.] always used to say you have no choice about being born or dying. The only thing you have a choice about is what you die for.

I wasn't predicted to be anything. I just followed an inner spirit, and it put me in the right place and the right time. I didn't want to be the mayor of Atlanta. I didn't want to run for Congress. I didn't want to work for Martin Luther King Jr. I wanted to work close to him and be a writer and write about the movement.

Everybody is determined by his own experience.

We think it is complicated to change the world. Change comes little by little. Nothing worthwhile can happen in one generation.

Influence is like a savings account, the less you use it, the more you've got