The climate in the '50s and '60s for black performers or black people in the entertainment business was atrocious. It was atrocious.

I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because its not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.

I was raised in Chicago and I guess that was one of the special breeding grounds for gangsters of all colors. That was the Detroit of the gangster world. The car industry was thugs.

I was the most subtle person in the world.

Did you know you would become as successful as you have? Hell, no. But you know what? You were prepared, baby.

We stole a box of honey jars one time and went out in the woods and took care of the whole box. I don't think I touched honey again for 20 years. I never wanted to see honey again.

I found this out over the years, that racism is a thinly veiled disguise over economics and money. It really is.