My theatrical background was in the great work of the South African playwright Athol Fugard.

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.

What happened to Haiti is a threat that could happen anywhere in the Caribbean to these island nations, you know, because of global warming, because of climate change and all this.

What he [Barack Obama] does to change the world - that's what's important.

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.

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

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.