We're dealing with old issues that aren't ours. We carry them and we pass them on to those who come after us. I am hoping to crack some of those.

Did you know that we are the only people in the United States who have to have their voting rights okayed every couple of years?

Sitting at the table during Color Purple and looking up and suddenly realizing I was acting in front of Steven Spielberg, was pretty cool. It was pretty good.

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.

You have to believe in yourself in spite of what other people believe.

Everything for me is visual. That's just how my head works.

Just call me black, if you want to call me anything.