The key to empowerment is no more complicated than what Jesse Jackson said, 'We are somebody.' But the 'We are somebody' I would like to be in the larger sense: not just the urban African-American but homo sapiens in general - We are somebody.

Many times, I get young people asking, 'What do you think about black movies?' And I say, 'What are you talking about? You mean Hollywood movies that have black people in them?' It's gone back to that, and that's not the same thing as a black movie.

If I was just a creator, I would still be back in the Lincoln annex in the Post Office.

When I was a kid, from 10 years old, I worked every day for my dad, huh? Never played basketball. I never played tennis - never did. We worked so that we could eat.

It seems to me that many writers, by virtue of environments of culture, art and education, slip into writing because of their environments.

I have a lot of respect for, always dig, the crew. Sometimes a lot more than the cast. But a good run production team is paramount to making a good film. You just can't it done without a good line producer, without creative producers, without people who are making stuff happen.

I come from the theater and I plan to always do theater. So I don't really see myself not being able to act even if people don't think I am sexy enough for film at 40, I'll still be acting.

My father is a visual artist, so I was influenced by him, and my mother is an English teacher who forced me to read a lot of books and poetry and get involved in theatre. I developed a varied taste for different arts.