Tavis Smiley
Even in the era of the first black president, racism is still the most intractable issue in USA. Regarding poverty, half of all Americans are either in or near poverty. Poverty is certainly worse for African-Americans now than it was during King's lifetime.Collection: Kings
I'm very musically curious and I love new experience. I'm an adventurer. Some people want to sort of stay in a safe zone and repeat the same things and give them more depth, and I want to do new things all the timeCollection: New Experiences
My acting gives me my self-worthCollection: Self Worth
Be careful about gossiping because loose lips really do sink ships. Now that I'm in the broadcast business, and people talk about me, I know what it feels like to be the victim of gossip.Collection: Gossip
I'm always fascinated by people from the Midwest, because it is so different than Hollywood, who discover at some point that they want to be in Hollywood.Collection: People
John Carlos provided the world with one of the most iconic images of the 1960s with his Black Power salute after a medal-winning performance at the 1968 summer games.Collection: Summer
[John Carlos] has spent much of his life since that time as a dedicated human rights advocate and public speaker, and he is out now with a wonderful new text; a memoir, in fact.Collection: Rights
He was a humanist then, he's a humanist now, and to my mind John Carlos is an authentic American hero.Collection: Hero
Every community has a Martin Luther King Boulevard. It's the cornerstone we all know. It's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where Walmart stands together with your community to make every day better.Collection: Kings
Democrats, too often, take blacks for granted, and Republicans, too often, simply ignore black voters.Collection: Black
Leonard Pitts, Jr. is the most insightful and inspiring columnist of his generation.Collection: Insightful
Poverty and wealth inequality are a form of instability into the future.Collection: Poverty
Music is the soundtrack of our lives, it's essential for our lives.Collection: Essentials
Struggling to stay in the middle class, and I love that. That's me and my dad and my family.Collection: Dad
For me, like when you've put yourself out there emotionally, physically, and you've really put yourself on the line, for me, that means I've really done something.Collection: Mean
I believe there is nothing we endure in life that you can't recover from. Failure is not fatal. Everyone has the capacity to fail up.Collection: Believe
I believed that President Obama was a good choice a couple of years ago because I felt that, as a black man, if he could win, it would open up progressive possibilities in this country for a lot of people. That was my major reason for believing his candidacy was a good thing. However, I don't endorse candidates, given the type of work that I do. My job is to hold people accountable.Collection: Country
I just find in our world that forgiveness is becoming more and more a difficult thing for us to do.Collection: Our World
There are enough bad films coming out of this town already without the process being more democratized. I'm a guy who loves democracy. I'm all for democratizing any process, but I think there is a price to pay for that.Collection: Thinking
Having to try and going through the trials and tribulations to actually overcome, to get there to win, to triumph, that's what makes life interestingCollection: Winning
Competition's always been a product of American lifestyleCollection: Competition
There are really only two types of people. Either you're running scared or you're running free. I choose to run free, and you can, too, no matter what your circumstances in life.Collection: Running
The City of Angels is a microcosm of the world, and so living in L.A. makes me feel like a citizen of the world.Collection: Angel
I think, for most of us is that once you get to a certain place in your career you're not having to elbow and knock people around and audition for parts.Collection: Thinking
I love my cross-sectioned, cross-cultural audience. Some of them are doing better than the average guy, but my audience has always been people who are struggling to stay in the middle class.Collection: Struggle
I think when I stop fighting, I die in a sense.Collection: Fighting
I feel like I've been successful after being done with the film is when I see it, if I'm embarrassed, if I'm slightly mortified, and if I feel super-vulnerable, I think I did something.Collection: Successful
Troubled times do call for troubled songs, songs that unsettle our souls and our spirits unapologetically.Collection: Song
It's hard these days to have a conversation, at least it is for me, about [Truman]Capote without "Good Night, and Good Luck" coming up in the same conversation.Collection: Good Night
We think of - there are too many wars, of course, in the world as we speak, but my read on this suggests to me that water is going to be the resource into the future that we're really - that countries, nations, are going to be fighting for control over.Collection: Country
[In a blogosphere] everybody has an opinion now, but I don't really freaking care about - all opinions ain't created equal, because everybody can go out there and express themselves and hide behind some character we don't know who you really are, a bunch of cowards.Collection: Character
I wanted to be a theater actress, and initially, I wanted to work in musical theaterCollection: Musical
If you don't have courage, you can't practice any of the other virtues.Collection: Practice
I think the issue of women's choice is essential for a woman being able to have their lives - if they cannot control their own bodies by choosing if or when to have a child, then they cannot control their working life or anything around them.Collection: Children
Fear, fear, breeds hopelessness. When you're afraid, you don't know what to believe in, you don't know what to hold on to. You're struggling to find something to believe in.Collection: Believe
I can't count the number of people I've talked to over the course of my career who have said to me that the thing that they most regret is the one time they did something just for the money.Collection: Regret
I think a lot of people who go to drama school have this ease with the text and they all have five monologues that they know by heart, and I never had that. I've done Chekov and I've done Moliere and I've done classic stuffCollection: Drama
I love the fight. I don't - it's not a negative, it's a positive, and I love the challenge. There's that little part of me that I love proving someone wrong in that way when they have an image of me or something, or they think they have me figured out or they think I'm a certain way.Collection: Fighting
I feel blessed to be in the broadcast business for 20 years. I believe that when you're this blessed, you have an obligation to pay it forward. That's what life is all about ultimately.Collection: Believe