I would love to get a role that changes the landscape of being an African American woman in television and film.
Groups like the NAACP, The Anti-Defamation League, NOW and GLAAD, will respond to derisive language directed at their constituents. The price paid by those who cavalierly chose to verbally disrespect the dignity of African Americans, Jews, women and homosexuals is steep.
Being black, I'm involved in the reparations movement. It's focused toward the African-American audience. We could begin to heal.
Black literature is taught as sociology, as tolerance, not as a serious, rigorous art form.
The point is, you have an ethnic heritage and you have a human heritage. Your human heritage includes everything of human value.
I identify as African American. I identify as Black. Black is something I share with other descendants of Africa, African-American is something I share with other Black descendants of America and both of those identities are of equal importance to me.
Hungry people cannot be good at learning or producing anything, except perhaps violence.
I did not get on the bus to get arrested. I got on the bus to go home.
Selfishness is the most constant of human motives. Patriotism, humanity, or the love of God may lead to sporadic outbursts sweep away the heaped-up wrongs of centuries; but they languish at times, while the love of self works on ceaselessly, unwearyingly,burrowing always at the very root of life, and heaping up fresh wrongs for other centuries to sweep away.
Sometimes we have to lose our way to find out what we really want, for we often ignore our needs until we are lost.
The first job I had with the Smithsonian was as a field researcher among African American communities in Southwest Louisiana and Arkansas for the festival.
Since 1957, black people have experienced double-digit unemployment - in good times and bad times. Look at the population of African Americans in prison. They represent more than half the population of prisoners in the country, 55 percent of those on death row
I have been amazed by the Anglo-Saxon's lack of curiosity about the internal lives and emotions of the Negroes, and for that matter, any non-Anglo-Saxon peoples within our borders, above the class of unskilled labor.
The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.
Does a black person make them an African American? No. There are Hispanics that are very, very dark skinned so the word has lost its meaning, it's not a very concise or proper word to use even today and it wasn't then.
I get overwhelming support in the African-American community.
I'd like to see marriage count again among African-Americans and not just in the society in general.
I will go to the NAACP convention, and explain to the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.
I am more of a conservationist, myself. And people have come to me and said, "Wow, you're an African-American conservationist!" And my response is, "No, I'm a conservationist who happens to be black. "
I have a well-balanced show. It's 5050 on menwomen, and also African-Americanwhite writers, it's the same thing. I have four African-American writers, and four non-African-American writers.