Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActress
Date of Birth18 September 1950
CountryUnited States of America
school white america
Suddenly in high school, I'm in a predominantly Jewish atmosphere. Jewish people were my gate to white America.
believe school jim-crow-laws
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, its hard to believe that it was America, but it really was.
both brown concern course criminal growing men number people quickly rapidly school sent terrible women
Well, the terrible thing right now, and I don't know the statistics, but there's a growing concern in some communities about how rapidly people are sent from school to jail, how quickly they're put into the criminal justice system. And of course the rapidly growing number of brown people, both men and women, in prison. And this is terrible.
artists came decided far home possible school specific terms
I made a real specific decision when I came out of school and most artists were writing about home - if you were a woman, you were writing about being a woman - and I decided not to do that, write about what you know. That's not what I do. I went as far away from home as possible in terms of the development of my imagination.
war stress thinking
People realize that we're very good at sending people to war, but we're not good at taking care of them. And people are coming back from war now; years ago, they would have been killed, now they're wounded; and they're coming back alive and with post-traumatic stress. So, I think Americans are sensible enough to know we've got to figure out a way to take care of them.
kids thinking people
I think as a kid I always liked to listen to people. I loved hearing stories.
thinking order creative
I think we can learn a lot about a person in the very moment that language fails them. In the very moment they they have to be more creative than they would have imagined in order to communicate. It's the very moment that they have to dig deeper than the surface to find words, and at the same time, it's a moment when they want to communicate very badly. They're digging deep and projecting out at the same time.
hard-work thinking doctors
I have a lot of optimism about new doctors because I think it's really clear that it's a lot of hard work and no guarantee of a lot of money.
confidence hopeful mark
Confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition.
curiosity
I am not myself; I am the potential of myself.
jobs interviews way
I don't talk a lot when I interview. My job is to get out of the way.
discipline crucial
Discipline — both mental and physical — is crucial.
ideas people firsts
For me, first of all, I love people, I love ideas.
art
Art simply can’t be stopped.