It's also important for those who promote those issues within the white community - the somewhat privileged community - to talk about issues affecting people of color.

The exceptionalism of a black U.S. President is not important to me. It's what he does - and who he has at the table.

Every day of my life I walk with the idea I am black no matter how successful I am.

The Black Power Mixtape is a documentary, first of all. It brings us closer to the voices we heard at that particular point in time.

What's more important is that we talk about movements; change happens through movements. The movement to end slavery, the movement to bring justice for those who have been left out of the system, movements to include women, movements around sexual preference - all these movements brought about change.

I'm not so vain as to believe that my involvement changes anything whatsoever.

The death penalty is inhumane... whether that person is in a [jail] or it's bin Laden.