The Western stereotype of Africa and its black citizens as devoid of reason and, therefore, subhuman was often shared by white master and black ex-slave alike.

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.

Be confident, be bold! These are your life greatest strength for success.

Ram wanted to marry a woman in front of whom he would be compelled to bow his head in admiration. P.210

remind that boy your body is not his home he is a guest warn him to never outstep his welcome again

Men become wise just as they become rich, more by what they save than by what they receive.

Why do critics make such an outcry against tragicomedies? is not life one?

Most people I know feel that life would be complete if they could just lose ten pounds.

The world is nothing but my perception of it. I see only through myself. I hear only through the filter of my story.

Not every person has the same kinds of talents, so you discover what yours are and work with them.

To say that climate change will be catastrophic hides a cascade of value-laden assumptions that do not emerge from empirical science.

If Mitt Romney is vanilla, Chris Christie is three hefty scoops of Rocky Road topped with whipped cream, Red Bull, and gravel.