Bill Duke

“The thing about Robin Givens as an actress is that she doesn't back away from anything.”

“On the way from church one day when my sister and I were 7 or 8, I was beaten by some white bikers.”

“Appropriation is a fact of life; no point in complaining about it. But if that's the way the game's being played, let's do it on both sides. I don't want some white guy making 'A Rage in Harlem III' if I can't do 'The Godfather V' or 'E.T. III.'”

“I don't want to exclusively direct white films, or black films. I want to have a choice.”

“Television is a producers' medium. There is a formula with a certain number of closeups for each show.”

“My parents taught me that it is my responsibility to make sacrifices for those after me.”

“I had studied at the NYU School of the Arts under Lloyd Richards, who also worked with the Negro Ensemble Company.”

“Pain has no color.”

“It's very difficult to direct something and do it well. But to direct and act - it's very hard.”

“Well, in the '80s and '70s, with the exception of Sidney Poitier and Brock Peters, maybe Ivan Dixon, if you were as big and black as I am, you were a bad guy. Simple. Because in real life, I scare people.”

“Dark skin is considered less than light skin in the in the minds of many in our community and in the media.”

“I'm a very private person, not much of a party person. That's how I keep my sanity.”

“I could direct a very decent Holocaust film, but I don't have the same experience as a young boy who was rocked to sleep in the lap of a grandmother who had a tattooed number on her arm, who told him stories of the people who disappeared, the relatives she never saw again, as he drifted off with his cheek nestled next to that number.”

“The Democrats throw money at the problems, and the Republicans tend to ignore them. The Natural Law Party goes beyond those approaches. It's about true change.”

“I saw the things that my sister went through - she's dark skinned - with boys not considering her attractive in her youth and the pain that it caused her.”

“Television is an excellent training ground for a director. If you work consistently in television, as I did, you have to come in on time and on budget. What you are allowed in feature films are, fortunately, more time and a larger budget.”

“My agent makes 10% of what you make. When your agent tells you to take a vacation, you know you're exhausted.”

“I think that some actors who make it in Hollywood are very talented. There are some of my heroes, the Meryl Streeps of the world, a lot of people that I love their work but I think a lot of it is luck, looks, strategic alliances and relationships, your agent and a lot of business components.”

“Dreams that are planned are called frustration.”

“Part of the training you get in theater is that you're never going to give up.”