There is not racial or ethnic domination of hopelessness. It's everywhere.

I'd seen my father. He was a poor man, and I watched him do astonishing things.

The impact of the black audience is expressing itself. They look to films to be more expressive of their needs, their lives. Hollywood has gotten that message - finally.

My father was a certain kind of man - I saw how he treated my mother and his family and how he treated strangers. And I vowed I would never make a film that would not reflect properly on my father's name.

I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before.

I was fortunate enough to have been raised to a certain point before I got into the race thing. I had other views of what a human is, so I was never able to see racism as the big question. Racism was horrendous, but there were other aspects to life.

Marriage is no way of life for the weak, the selfish, or the insecure.