Bill Duke

I'm an American, but being a black American, my experience is a particular one, my struggles have been particular.

By healing the internal issues that we can heal as a people, our children don't have to suffer the same agony and pain that we put each other through.

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.

It really upsets me that the media insists on turning 'Do the Right Thing' or 'Boyz N the Hood' into 'black films.' They are American films. They may open the window on the black experience, but they had things to say to everybody. That's why they were so successful.

My parents never let the color of our skin be an excuse for why we did not succeed.

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