It's important for people of color to link up with issues around globalization, food security, health, the environment.

Lethal Weapon 2 used the platform to talk about the apartheid system. That was a very important moment for us.

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

I was able to do The Saint of Fort Washington, on the relationship between two homeless men.

Hollywood is designed to check the box office on Monday morning and see: "How'd we do? How much?" It's another facet of this whole culture of accumulation and consumption. Black people are caught up in it, white people are caught up in it, white actors, black actors, female actresses - everybody's caught up in it.

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.

The strike and its outcome had an enormous impact on the system of education and on our lives as well. The strike began as a response to the college's refusal to hire Professor Nathan Hare [the so-called father of black studies], and certainly unified the college around issues of justice. These issues were reflected in many communities: the Asian American community, Hispanic community, Native American community.