Anna Deavere Smith

“You know if we were to look back and how we were in 1955 living in Jim Crow, living in segregation, living in segregated schools, it's hard to believe that it was America, but it really was.”

“When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots,' and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not.”

“We would like doctors to listen, but the fact is, we better be ready to be able to talk to them. You're going to have to be an active participant in that conversation, so I'd say the American people are going to need ways of stepping up to the conversation.”

“Movies, as evidenced by a chorus of protesting and celebrating Americans, influence broader trends.”

“Racism has been for everyone like a horrible, tragic car crash, and we've all been heavily sedated from it. If we don't come into consciousness of this tragedy, there's going to be a violent awakening we don't want. The question is, can we wake up?”

“There's not a lot of flash about me.”

“I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to spend their lives.”

“If I do three interviews in a day, I can be exhausted, because the process of hearing everyone requires that I empty out myself. While I'm listening, my own judgments and prejudices certainly come up. But I know I won't get anything unless I get those things out of the way.”

“I am interested in personal stories because that's when people become expressive, spontaneous and heartfelt.”

“Identity is an assemblage of constellations.”

“I am lucky: I have fantastic doctors and a fantastic dentist.”