It's not white versus black any more, it's haves versus have-nots. Unless the black middle-classes unite to promote the interests of the black underclass, tension between them is inevitable. What we, the black middle class have to do, is think of a strategy to avert that.

When Europeans came upon real ruined cities they refused to believe that they had been built by Africans. Here the past has been distorted and denied.

My goal is to get everybody in America to do their family tree.

Patriotism is best exemplified through auto-critique. When you're willing to stand up within the group and say, 'It is wrong for Black people to be anti-Semitic,' or 'It is wrong for America to discriminate against persons of African descent and made them slaves and based its wealth upon free labor,' it's crucial to say that.

For someone, success is to be the highest paid actress. For some, it might be the number of awards, and for some, it is the number of films. Honestly, I feel privileged when a celebrated filmmaker offers me a role so that I can be a part of his vision. That is success for me.

If, say, a striker knows that scoring 30 goals in a season will lead to them winning a prestigious award then they will try that little bit harder because, regardless of what players may say, individual recognition on the world stage is important.

A number of us had conversations with the Kerry campaign about what he was going to say about CAFE. What he told us was that he did not want to sacrifice jobs and that he wanted to work with the auto industry to achieve that goal.

Periods of tranquillity are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up.