“Somebody once said to me after I'd done "Deep Impact," "What is it like to play a Black president," and I said, "I didn't play a Black president. I played a president. I just happened to be Black. There's a difference.” SaidDonePlayBlackPresidentDifferencesHappenedImpactDeep Impact Author:Morgan Freeman
“The success [of the X-Men], I think, is for two reasons. The first is that, creatively, the book was close to perfect ... but the other reason is that it was a book about being different in a culture where, for the first time in the West, being different wasn't just accepted, but was also fashionable. I don't think it's a coincidence that gay rights, black rights, the empowerment of women and political correctness all happened over those twenty years and a book about outsiders trying to be accepted was almost the poster-boy for this era in American culture.” ThinkingMenTryingYearsFirstsTwoBookDifferentReasonPoliticalCultureBlackPerfectBoysRightsHappenedGayFirst TimeEmpowermentTwentiesWestAcceptedErasOutsidersCoincidenceAmerican CultureFashionablePolitical CorrectnessBeing DifferentPostersGay RightsCorrectnessX Men Author:Mark Millar
“The Democrats were crushed in the midterm elections. The Republican juggernaut pounded the Democrats, and the pundits say they will not really know what happened to the Democrats until they find the black box.” KnowsBlackHappenedRepublicanElectionDemocratBoxesCrushedPunditsMidtermsJuggernautMidterm ElectionsBlack Boxes Author:David Letterman
“First black president ever, and to be living while it happened - that's a good part of history. That's probably the biggest person I admire right now.” FirstsPersonsBlackPresidentHappenedRight NowAdmire Author:Meek Mill
“One of the worst things that happened to black people in America historically is integration. People ask me why I say that and I tell them it's because we gave up all of our control.” PeopleAmericaAsksBlackHappenedWorstAsk MeBlack PeopleWorst ThingsIntegrationGave Up Author:David Banner
“I didn't realize, when I decided to be a comic, that a black person had never been allowed to stand flat-footed in America and talk to white folks. It never happened before.” PersonsAmericaBlackRealizingWhiteHappenedDecidedFolksComicFlatsBlack Person Author:Dick Gregory
“I do think it's extremely important to acknowledge the gains that were made by the civil rights movement, the black power movement.Institutional transformations happened directly as a result of the movements that people, unnamed people, organized and gave their lives to.” PeopleThinkingMadeImportantBlackResultsRightsHappenedMovementGainsTransformationCivil RightsAcknowledgeOrganizedCivil Rights MovementBlack Power Author:Angela Davis
“One teacher told me that my work belonged in the trash. That day I ran out of the classroom and ended up in the library, where there happened to be a black and white photography exhibition of Robert Rauschenberg's photographs of the streets of New York. The subject of his photos were exactly what I was painting about.” BlackWhiteTeacherHappenedStreetsSubjectsNew YorkPaintingPhotographyLibraryPhotographRanClassroomBlack And WhiteTrashExhibitionsBlack And White Photography Author:Jose Parla
“I liked speed. I was on black beauties all the time. Nothing bad happened to me. I didn't become a drug addict because I always had to make a movie. We weren't stoned when we made them; I was stoned when I made movies up. I did them all.” MadeBlackHappenedDrugSpeedAddictDrug AddictBlack Beauty Author:John Waters
“When you are trying to get a shot, you can't be pleasing everybody. And I tend to be sort of collaborative and a bit of a pleaser. And when I'm directing, people just sort of call me Black Hat Gabriela. Because suddenly they're like, "What happened to you?" Because I stop listening. And I feel strident. I feel rude. And I feel un-collaborative.” PeopleFeelsTryingBitsBlackHappenedListeningShotsHatsCall MeRudePleasersBlack Hats Author:Liz W. Garcia
“You must never allow something that happened to you to become a morbidly treasured heirloom that you carry, show people, put back in its black velvet pouch and then tuck back into your jacket where you can keep it close to your heart.” PeopleHeartShowsBlackHappenedJacketsVelvetTreasuredHeirlooms Author:Augusten Burroughs
“In America now every romantic comedy is interpreted politically. I can remember when I was promoting Black Hawk Down we were all being asked what it said about September 11th. Well, it was shot before that happened, so, nothing.” WellsSaidI CanAmericaRememberBlackComedyHappenedShotsSeptemberRemember WhenPromotingSeptember 11HawksSeptember 11thVery RomanticBlack Hawk Down Author:Eric Bana
“I'm glad Hurricane Katrina happened. It taught us an important lesson: black people can't swim.” PeopleImportantBlackHappenedTaughtLessonsGladSwimBlack PeopleHurricanesTaught UsKatrinaImportant LessonsHurricane Katrina Author:Carlos Mencia
“We recriminalized black life. Incarceration rates since the 1908s have gone through the roof, overwhelmingly black males, women and Hispanics to some extent. Essentially re-doing what happened under Reconstruction. That's the history of African Americans - so how can any one say there's no problem. Sure, racism is serious, but it's worse than that.” ProblemBlackGoneHappenedSeriousRacismMalesRateAfrican AmericanRoofNo ProblemReconstructionIncarcerationBlack LivesBlack Males Author:Noam Chomsky
“In Crash, you've got a pathological cop who at the end justifies police brutality. He tells the naïve, young cop that you're going to end up the same as him. He's the most sympathetic character in the movie. So, the naïve cop ends up murdering this Black kid and tries to cover up the evidence. It sort of justifies police brutality and the planting of evidence which is what happened in the O.J. Simpson case.” TryingEndsCharacterKidsYoungBlackCasesHappenedEvidencePoliceJustifyCopCrashPolice BrutalitySympatheticBrutalityCover Ups Author:Ishmael Reed
“I think of the described dynamics as a fluid negotiation. I don't think these specific interactions can happen to the black or brown body without the white body. And there are ways in which, if you say, "Oh, this happened to me," then the white body can say, "Well, it happened to her and it has nothing to do with me." But if it says "you," that you is an apparent part of the encounter.” IfsThinkingWayWellsBodyHappensBlackWhiteHappenedEncountersBrownInteractionNegotiationFluidDynamics Author:Claudia Rankine
“Now of course we have Black historians, but they're usually men. We get the perspective always, the slanted perspective, of what has happened. The battles, the things achieved, the laws, but where are the people, the families? What happens inside the houses, inside the minds and the hearts? That's what I'm interested in.” PeopleMenMindHeartHappensLawCoursesHouseBlackHappenedPerspectiveBattleHistorian Author:Isabel Allende
“I started getting seriously into music when I was a kid. 1978 was my big year. It just hit home. That was before real metal. There was Black Sabbath and that kind of stuff, but the real underground, hard stuff wasn't even around yet. It was cool to watch that happen and latch onto the next edge of things every time that progression happened.” YearsKindRealHardHomeBigsHappensKidsNextStuffBlackWatchesHappenedEdgesMetalsProgressionSabbathLatchesBlack Sabbath Author:Chris Reifert
“I always asked my mother, I said, 'Momma, how come is everything white?' I said, 'Why is Jesus white with blond hair and blue eyes? Why is the Lord's supper all white men? Angels are white, the Pope, Mary, and even the angels.' I said, 'Mother, when we die, do we go to Heaven?' She said, 'Naturally we go to Heaven.' I said, 'Well, what happened to all the black angels?'” MenWellsSaidEyeMotherDiesJesusHeavenBlackWhiteLordHappenedHairAngelBlueMaryPopeWhite ManBlue EyesSupperMommaLord's Supper Author:Muhammad Ali