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The novel and the film of 'The Color Purple' are both works of the imagination that make claim to historical truth.

I'm a sponge for historical images of black people and black history on film.

'The Color Purple' is the kind of character piece that a director like Sidney Lumet could do brilliantly with one hand tied behind his back.

It's a dumb question, because I don't look at things as a black director, just as a director, so ask me as a director first and we can segue into the colour thing later.

What prevailed was that it was a family story, so it didn't matter what the color. It was also the perfect subject matter for a miniseries: A best-selling book, a generational story, a social problem - they all made 'Roots' what a miniseries should be.

Black history is American history.

I think 'The Color Purple' is so bursting with love, the need for connection, the showing of the need for connection around the globe.

Sitting at the table during Color Purple and looking up and suddenly realizing I was acting in front of Steven Spielberg, was pretty cool. It was pretty good.

I wanted to do the whole album in black and white, and it really killed me that when you see it in the light it's got green in it. I don't know what the hell that was about.

Historically, black music has influenced other cultures and other genres and created other genres.