All historians generalize from particulars. And often, if you look at a historian's footnotes, the number of examples of specific cases is very, very small.

In America there is institutional racism that we all inherit and participate in, like breathing the air in this room - and we have to become sensitive to it.

The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience.

The first step toward tolerance is respect and the first step toward respect is knowledge.

The thing about black history is that the truth is so much more complex than anything you could make up.

In Ethiopia, the black people became Christians 1700 years ago, hundreds of years before Northern Europe turned to Christianity... And here, most of the saints are black.

We can revolutionize the attitude of inner city brown and black kids to learning. We need a civil rights movement within the African-American community.

I want to be a figure for prison reform. I think that the criminal justice system is rotten.

Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.

Wherever you go in the history of America, there have been Black people making contributions, but their contributions have been obscured, lost, buried.

Well, certainly one of the ironies of the success of affirmative action is that the middle class within the black community no longer lives within 'black community' by and large.

I owe my life to God who set me free from all my sins.

Threshold is where the madness ends and the magic begins.

No, I'm not a very methodologically pure actor.

Success, in my view, is the willingness to strive for something you really want

I've got a very deep and abiding passion about education being far more than buildings and textbooks; it's what children bring into school with them.

He moves like a dancer.

[she] had a great reputation for unselfishness because she was always giving up a lot of things she didn't want.

Feminism is ridiculous. Feminists are silly idealists who want to be on top. There is no real equality in sexual relationships - someone always wins.

Every diamond has the ability to shine when there is someone to recognize its good facets and inhibit its flaws.

I never dreamed I would want to be or become a financial advisor.