Very few Black people ever embraced back to Africa movements, and very few actually, a tiny number actually went back to Africa. They said, "We are going to make America live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States." They produced one of the world's great cultures; they produced individuals who were just as brilliant and made contributions to the world civilization. In fact, they produced a world-class civilization, the African American civilization, in music, in dance, in oratory, in religion, in writing.

I didn't feel particularly close to my father.

Politicians will not put forth programs aimed at the problems of poor blacks while their turnout remains so low.

My father lived to be 97 and played bridge every day up to the end, so I've got a 50 percent chance of living a long life like him.

Ever since I watched 'Roots,' I've dreamed of tracing my African ancestry and helping other people do the same.

We can revolutionize the attitude of inner city brown and black kids to learning. We need a civil rights movement within the African-American community.

There haven't been fundamental structural changes in America. There's been a very important symbolic change and that is the election of Barack Obama. But the only black people who truly live in a post-racial world in America all live in a very nice house on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.