The first slave to read and write was the first to run away.

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.

A dimple in the chin a devil within.

When people recognise me they just kind of go 'Hi how are you, ' really kind of cool you know.

Be respectful. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Respect the lowest rank and the highest rank and you'll never get in trouble.

I am thinking about chess in schools in particular. In the USA more than 3200 children competed in an event.

If the marriage were valid, she'd be your sister-in-law.

It's easier to apologize afterwards than getting something allowed in the first place.

Virtue is insufficient temptation.

Go to the Sydney Institute Media Watch Dog website to marvel at his [Gerard Henderson's] work.

Death, when it approaches, ought not to take one by surprise. It should be part of the full expectancy of life. Without an ever-present sense of death life is insipid.

If more designers had bad backs, we would have more good chairs.