It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are.

I always give the example, if you turn on the radio today, black radio, Lenny Kravitz is not black. Bob Marley wasn't black: in the beginning, only white college stations played Bob Marley.

All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love.

I miss my brother. Prince was a funny cat. Great sence of humor.

'25th Hour,' like a lot of my films, takes place in New York City. I've been very fortunate to make films in the city that I live. I mean, it's great going home at night instead of being on location.

Our greatness, our talent has never been the question. It's been a matter of grappling for control over what we do.

I used the principles of Kickstarter to make 'She's Gotta Have It.' We filmed that in 1985 to 1986. The final cost was $175,000. I didn't have that money. It was friends, grants, donations. We saved our bottles for the nickel deposit.