The Africans know I'm not an African. I'm an American.

[On writing to Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple:] I told her I would play a Venetian blind, dirt on the floor, anything.

When I was 9 years old, Star Trek came on.

When I was doing ensemble theater and comedy work, I felt I had some talents. But when I started doing my shows in Berkeley and found that I could be funny on my own, I was shocked.

What I am is a humanist before anything - before I'm a Jew, before I'm black, before I'm a woman. And my beliefs are for the human race - they don't exclude anyone.

That's the thing about Mother Nature, she really doesn't care what economic bracket you're in.

I'm fighting the label of 'Black' actress simply because it's very limiting in people's eyes, especially people who are making movies.