People will be talking about the [Barack] Obama legacy for decades, and I wanted to include my voice in the analysis of this presidency.

I serve on the Institute of the Black World's National Commission on African-American Reparations, and we have asked the President [Barack Obama] to, by executive order, establish a commission to study reparations. He can do this without Congressional approval. While I am not optimistic, I do hope that President Obama considers this in these waning months of his Presidency.

Lots of African-American people really so adore Barack Obama that they're unwilling to even be mildly critical of him.

When Ronald Reagan became president, students could no longer get food stamps.

Do you really think I'm going to go on record telling you the craziest thing I've ever done. There's a reel in my brain, and I think I'll keep it there. No regrets, though.

I like to think that life lessons are learned and re-learned every day and take on importance at different times in life.

As I write in the book, I do not regret either of my votes for President [Barack] Obama, nor my support of him when he ran for the Senate before that. I get excited as I ever did when I see that black man on Air Force One. But I won't settle for symbolism, and our President's record should be open for analysis.