James McBride
James McBride
lying white black
It's the same old story. Nothing in this world happens unless white folks says it happens. And therein lies the problem of being a professional black storyteller - writer, musician, filmmaker.
careers my-family
My family is my career.
opportunity african-american black
I'm one of the few Black writers, or African American writers, who managed to work my way through the system so that it has allowed me to speak in a kind of free way. But most African American writers don't have that. They don't have that opportunity, they don't have that.
tissues kind form
If you have the material it will form itself as a kind of connective tissue.
color trying wish
I wish all critics, no matter their color, were more sophisticated when it comes to the moral questions a film like 'St. Anna' is trying to raise.
miracle mind proud
I'm proud of 'Miracle at St. Anna' and I loved it; there's no question in my mind it's as good as any movie that came out in 2007.
heart let-it-go battle
The thing that I do is that when I fail, I just keep quiet about it. I just let it go. It's done. I just go to the next thing. I don't complain, I don't go to - I pick my battles very, very judiciously, and I just assume that there's good in the heart of everybody.
fuel not-interested
I'm not interested in food. It's just fuel.
horse book jazz
I'd like to do something involving jazz. But books are how I earn my living, and I'd like to stay with the horse I rode in on.
fun intelligent people
Slavery was a web of relationships, and if people knew how thick the whole business was, they would not make fun of people like Harriet Tubman. They would understand how intelligent she was and how sharp.
vans headlights stills
I put headlights in Ford vans. I still drive a Ford.
gun waiting southern
It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and everything was all surface but underneath it was like a bomb waiting to go off. I always felt that way about the South, that beneath the smiles and southern hospitality and politeness were a lot of guns and liquor and secrets.
heart remembrance promise
Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold it in this world as a remembrance, a promise for the world that's to come. There's a prize at the end of all of it, but still, that's a heavy load to bear.
book college giving
I just read history books. I read nothing but history books. They have so much to give; I wish I'd majored in history in college.