The Black Church Will Accept Anybody.

I'm One Of The Few Black Writers, Or African American Writers, Who Managed To Work My Way Through The System So That It Has Allowed Me To Speak In A Kind Of Free Way. But Most African American Writers Don't Have That. They Don't Have That Opportunity, They Don't Have That.

When You're Interviewing Someone, Even Your Mother - You Have To Sort Of Deal With You Have To Get Some Objective Space From Yourself And The Person But You Also Have To Find What's The Best Way To Get The Information From That Person.

The Man Was The Finest Preacher. He Could Make A Frog Stand Up Straight And Get Happy With Jesus.

Slavery Was A Web Of Relationships, And If People Knew How Thick The Whole Business Was, They Would Not Make Fun Of People Like Harriet Tubman. They Would Understand How Intelligent She Was And How Sharp.

As A Journalist, I Never Critiqued Anyone. I Never Review Books. I've Never Felt Qualified As A Musician To Say Whether Someone Is A Good Musician Or A Bad Musician. What Happens With Black Writers And Black Artists Is That If You're Critiqued, For Example, By A Black Historian Who Wants To Get His Name On The Cover Of "the New York Times," And He Says Something, Like, Wacky, Well, He'll Get His Name On The Cover Of "the New York Times" And He Might Get Tenure, And Your Career Suffers.