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.

President [Barack] Obama is a man who had certain advantages because of the civil rights movement.

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

But rarely have I made choices that made me feel I was really compromising what I believe.

The black power movement was not a separation from the civil rights movement, but a continuation of this whole process of democratization.

Remember, we're talking [in The Black Power Mixtape] about 1967, the year before [Martin Luther] King's assassination. We're talking about the emergence of black power, which is a discussion King mentioned in his last book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? We're talking about the meaning of black power and the possibility that it alienated our supporters, both white and black.

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