Nobody black had learned anything from the 'Letter from the Birmingham Jail' or from the 'I Have a Dream' speech. That was a revelation of white people.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Black people don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted.
I didn't have that many black people in my life, so I had to sort of search them out. And I didn't grow up in America, but I identified as much with their writing about the black experience as I did with their writing about the human experience.
There haven't been enough profound things written about what being black means and what a black character is. Nobody knows.
I don't think there's enough breadth to the stories told about African-Americans.
In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There's so much more to the story.
It's the same old story. Nothing in this world happens unless white folks says it happens. And therein lies the problem of being a professional black storyteller - writer, musician, filmmaker.
The thing about black history is that the truth is so much more complex than anything you could make up.
Black history is American history.
I went to a segregated school; I was born a Negro, not a black man.
I think until Britain acknowledges just how much of a presence black people had here before the Sixties, then there are certain stories that are not going to be inclusive of what I have to offer.
No opposing quotes found.