It's very rare that Black actors get an opportunity to do period pieces and to have a breadth of characters to choose from in their work.
When you're the victim of the behavior, it's black and white; when you're the perpetrator, there are a million shades of gray.
I can't remember a picture that has expressed black attitudes and personal relationships as vividly as we've done in 'Cadence.'
If, in 2014, we're still making 'white savior movies,' then it's just lazy and unfortunate. We've grown up as a country, and cinema should be able to reflect what's true. And what's true is that black people are the center of their own lives and should tell their own stories from their own perspectives.
I learned that in order to have a strong and credible voice, I needed to do more research into the history of black people in America while simultaneously digesting new and pertinent news.
I think many of the ideas that opened up in the '60s got implemented in the '70s and that certain minority voices that were not being heard in the '60s, like women and gay people, were being heard in the '70s. Black Civil Rights had also found its foothold, and those ideas were also very pertinent.
Living under the perpetual and pervasive threat of racism seems, for black men and black women, to quite literally reduce lifespans.
'Peter Pan' makes 'Black Watch' and 'The Bacchae' look like a walk in the park.
I remember watching William Hartnell as the first 'Doctor.' Black and white made it very scary for a youngster like myself. I was petrified, but even though I'd watch most of it from behind the sofa through my fingers, I became a fan.
I went to Brunel University and very much wanted to go on to do a PhD in management, but then my acting career started to take off. In those days when you switched on the box there were hardly any brown or black faces.
Rhythm and blues started even before phonograph records were being produced because black people entertained themselves. It wasn't done for money. It was done for entertainment. Most white people didn't know anything about this because prejudice kept them from ever seeing what was going on.
The Clintons use black people for votes but then don't do anything for black communities after they're elected. They use us for photo ops.
Well, my piano's really beautiful. I actually have two pianos. I have a Yamaha upright from the '60s that's blond, wood, and black, and I also have one from the '20s from Chicago - not a well-known brand or anything.
The shores of the Black Sea lend themselves to the literary genre that may be classified as 'cultural pilgrimage,' which is not just a higher form of travel writing but which has the further mission of reporting on present conditions and supplying neglected knowledge.
The minute I'm off that stage, I try to get as 'me' as possible. I do that by piling on my black eyeliner, and I put on my ripped tights. Dressing like myself again helps.
I think probably the scaredest I've ever been was in Somalia. I arrived there when the episode that became known as 'Black Hawk Down' was still taking place. The Americans were still pinned down under fire. And everybody else was basically going the other way, and I was the only one putting my hand up for a flight in.
I used to own an island in the Seychelles and had a big boat there and one day I came across some Somali pirates who were passing by on their way to re-provision their boat. They didn't even acknowledge me - which is unheard of among sailors - and it was like looking into the eyes of a black mamba.
Ignorance is pitiful! If you are ignorant and stupid, you are sick - white, black, green, I don't care.
Pittsburgh is a very hard city, especially if you're black.
Wearing a hijab never made me feel any more conservative - it made me feel safe. Then, after 9/11, I became the butt of a joke on the playground, so I stopped wearing it. Kids can be really cruel when you're the only black girl in your Girl Scout troop.
