Dr. King's Nobel Prize had a more powerful transforming effect on him than I think he realized at the time.

What's fascinated me from the time I was a little kid was the way we construct our lives through stories.

Without doubt, President [Barack] Obama is a great historical figure.

Like the amazing story of Anthony Johnson. This man was a slave, then became free, accumulated 250 acres, and even had his own slave, a black man who took him to court in Virginia in 1654.That man argued that he should be freed like an indentured servant. But Johnson, who we believe was a pure African from Angola, said, "No way, you're my slave." And the court agreed.

I want to be a figure for prison reform. I think that the criminal justice system is rotten.

Most black leaders, whether left, right or center, from Frederick Douglas and Martin Delaney on in the middle of the 19th century have not even wondered about the merits of the capitalist system.

If you share a common ancestor with somebody, you're related to them. It doesn't mean that you're going to invite them to the family reunion, but it means that you share DNA. I think it's fascinating.