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

Leadership has to be focused on some very radical ideas that only we as 21st Century people can talk about: making sure people have a livelihood, making sure people receive a living wage, making sure the environment, the Mother Earth, is embraced and cherished and not destroyed. Making sure people are healthy in what they eat, making sure we hold people and corporations accountable for the damage they do not only to our environment but to our institutions.

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

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

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.

Mel Gibson is my friend. I love Mel. He's not the person that I hear people are often trying to diminish. Whatever his challenges are in life, he still remains someone I'm very close to.

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.