Every day of my life I walk with the idea that I am black, no matter how successful I am. And our success is tempered by that; you're successful in this way given the fact you are black, and most blacks don't get to that point.

When you've moved past a point where you're just scrambling for jobs, you think about the things that you want to do. And the things that you want to do are governed by what you've seen, what you choose to embrace

I have the capacity to express what I feel needs to be expressed. And I try to do what I believe in.

There is a lack of leadership outside the Beltway, outside of politics.

Popular literature and culture used to reflect people's aspirations, pain, and passion. All those particular things are no longer available to us.

Whole ideology of consumption almost to the point of religion. Whether it's the consumption of entertainment or the consumption around buying things, we're so caught up with our appetites that we don't have a clear distinction about what we need and what we just want. Plus, the decline of trade unions is a factor. When you have powerful unions, you have a working class that is politicized.

Today's cinema is a proliferation of comedies, which are in some ways creating caricature images. They're one-dimensional.