It's not enough to be against something.

Blackness is not simply a reactionary title or identity; that is indeed the "negative" way of characterizing African American identity.

I do believe that it is quite necessary for us as a people to reach back, over and down to help the less fortunate of our number.

The heartbeat of your originality is deep within a body of thought that continually wrestles with the contradictions and limitations that we're constantly trying to overcome, the curiosities and the ignorances of the people we seek to help.

My ambition didn't grow out of nowhere. It was planted in me by a community that nurtured me.

Originality doesn't consist of saying it first, originality consists of saying it in a way that is specifically tailored to the moment in which you are addressing - and at the moment when the complications arise, challenging the logic of what you're doing.

Bill Cosby is a famous black guy who has a bully pulpit the size of the world; it's global. He puts his colossal foot on the vulnerable necks of poor people, and as a result of that, we don't have a balanced conversation.