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I consider myself a human being, a Christian, a father, a husband, so many things, before being a black person.

I realize that I'm black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody's wish.

I don't carry myself as a black person but as a woman that belongs to everybody. After all, it's the general public that made me - not any one particular group. So I don't think of myself as belonging to any particular group and never have.

I am an African-American in America. That will never change. But I don't have to be defined by that.

There are so many people who have this idea of who I am because I'm black.

I do consider myself part of black history.

I'm black, I don't feel burdened by it and I don't think it's a huge responsibility. It's part of who I am. It does not define me.

I am black, and there's no getting around that, but being black doesn't define every aspect of my life.

I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers.

I read every one of the books on the shelf marked American Negro Literature. I became a nationalist, a colour nationalist, through the writings of men and women who lived a world away from me.