As a child I wanted to be a professional athlete or lawyer.

We all think we're different, but when it comes around, we end up needing the same things. Somebody to love us. Somebody to respect us.

What I found fascinating was just how quickly the best of the young Negro League players were drafted into the major leagues once Branch Rickey broke the color line by hiring Jackie Robinson. It was clear that all of the major league owners already knew the talents of the black ballplayers that they had refused to let into their league.

I think it's difficult for young people to acknowledge being smart, to knowledge being a reader. I see kids who are embarrassed to read books. They're embarrassed to have people see them doing it.

I couldn't speak well. I went to speech therapy for 10 years. And I was sort of frustrated in that sense.

I wrote for magazines. I wrote adventure stuff, I wrote for the 'National Enquirer,' I wrote advertising copy for cemeteries.

The idea of voluntary segregation went against every value I had been taught. What did being born black have to do with excellence?