Even behind bars, even on Death Row, you can fail up, because life is about committing ourselves on a daily basis to the best in us. Freedom is a state of mind. Freedom is an attitude. Freedom is a spirit. You may be behind bars, but you still have the capacity to be free.

I learned early on that it's heartbreaking to - there's the editor that comes in, and then they have to craft the movie together, and sometimes you give a whole performance that's just been cut up, and maybe it's better for it, absolutely, but you still have to deal with the loss of that.

I don't want the Obama era to be more about symbolism than substance when it comes to black people. I love him, but I love black people even more.

Poverty and wealth inequality are a form of instability into the future.

Music is the soundtrack of our lives, it's essential for our lives.

Troubled times do call for troubled songs, songs that unsettle our souls and our spirits unapologetically.

He was a humanist then, he's a humanist now, and to my mind John Carlos is an authentic American hero.