I'll be honest with you. I'm a little bit of a loner. It's been a big part of my maturing process to learn to allow people to support me. I tend to be very self-reliant and private. And I have this history of wanting to work things out on my own and protect people from what's going on with me.

I get through the tough times through prayer and meditation. And I have really good friends and family, and a great therapist.

I feel like I barely survived Django (Unchained) emotionally - the violence, hearing the N-word every day. It cost me a lot psychologically, but it was worth it to tell that story.

I think everything in life happens for a reason. I always think there's room for me to improve as a person.

You're able to make a real difference. If a woman's able to step away financially, she's able to begin to do all the other work.

I think most people, when they think about the Black Panther Party, they think in very abstract, caricatured terms. They think about black fists in the air, but they don't think about the actual people, and the families, and the relationships.

You can never control how people respond to your work. You can only control your own work ethic.