The world is dealing with issues of immigration, deindustrialization, and poverty.

Mother Earth is in pain and ailing because of global warming.

President Obama is a man who had certain advantages because of the civil rights movement. He had the opportunity to go to some of the best schools in this country - schools that train you how to run the political paradigm, not challenge it. The leaders of the Black Power Movement were challenging that paradigm.

I was a member of the Black Student Union, part of the central committee at San Francisco State. During the 1968 strike there, I was certainly very much involved in the activities that occurred on campus. It was part of an extraordinary period in my life

It's a misconception to believe that the resistance ended with the civil rights movement.

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.

I was able to do To Sleep with Anger, a very powerful film about African Americans, their spirituality, and the things that happened within a small community and a family.