So much has to do with going beyond treating black people as cosmetic and symbolic items, as opposed to genuine personalities and human beings. And that is a deep moral and spiritual issue, which can of course be backed up by Civil Rights Commissions which enforce the laws against any form of discrimination.

We’re beings toward death, we’re … two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be the culinary delight of terrestrial worms.

Death is always a constant possibility and probability and of course an inevitability, as well.

Love and trust and justice, concern for the poor, that's being pushed to the margins, and you can see it.

The wonderful thing about the black church for me is that it forces you to come to terms with the centrality of love in the world.

We will not allow this day of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to go without somebody going to jail.

The American Dream is individualistic. Martin Luther King's dream was collective. The American Dream says, "I can engage in upward mobility and live the good life." King's dream was fundamentally Christian. His commitment to radical love had everything to do with his commitment to Jesus of Nazareth, and his dream had everything to do with community, with a "we" consciousness that included poor and working people around the world, not just black people.