(I get to) kill all the white people... How great is that?

In our music, in our everyday life, there are so many negative things. Why not have something positive and stamp it with blackness?

I didn't have a knee-jerk reaction like some people did to the language and the violence. My stepfather was a history teacher at Lincoln High School in Dallas. So, I was already familiar with the N-word and the brutality of slavery. What I was drawn to was the love story between Django and Broomhilda and how he defends and gets the girl in the end. I thought it was just an amazing and courageous project.

Every single thing in my life is built around race.

The most interesting thing about acting is when you go to the dark places, that's a lot of energy. When you go to the happiest places, it's also a lot of energy.

I wish I could take what I'm feeling right now and put it in the water system, and we would all love each other.

Give it up for Ray Charles and his beautiful legacy. And thank you, Ray Charles, for living.