I'm a storyteller, and there's some genres I like. I don't think I'm ever going to do science fiction, but I want to do a musical one day. I want to tell stories, I don't really try to get boxed in by a specific genre.

If we became students of Malcolm X, we would not have young black men out there killing each other like they're killing each other now. Young black men would not be impregnating young black women at the rate going on now. We'd not have the drugs we have now, or the alcoholism.

You know that first of all your films have to make money no matter who you are.

I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable.

I think black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can't just sit back and let other people define our existence.

I collect names for characters. Names are valuable; they can be your first source of insight into a character.

Everybody does what they want to do for their own specific reasons.