The role that theater has placed in enhancing consciousness and moving systems ahead. I think of what South African theater meant for the apartheid movement, for example. I think of what music has meant for so many social movements across time.

The only reason I've been so critical of hip-hop is because I've always been aware of the effect that it has, and the reflection that it gives of the African-American community.

You can travel through literature, and you can expand your mind through literature. It's so cheap to buy that kind of ticket.

A lie preserved in stained glass doesn't make it more true.

Jay Z and President Bush have a lot in common, that same brash confidence

I think art can really serve to inspire a movement - and, of course, it has in the past. The Civil Rights movement wouldn't have the same resonance without the songs from everyone from Pete Seeger to Odetta to James Brown.

Music has always pushed ahead social movements and can do much more than just dumb down a populace.