20th Century African American People

"I was like, ‘If it was where I’m from, you had to go to the side of someone’s house, to the refrigerator.’ That was one of my first jokes"

"I talked about the commercial: The white parents would let all these kids come in and just open the refrigerator and just be in there and get something to drink, and they pull out some Sunny Delight"

"I put some stuff together, and man, the next thing you know, boom. Wow. The response changed my whole outlook on everything. I couldn’t sleep that night"

"I was there watching these guys, and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m ready to try"

"I never thought my way of thinking would equate to comedy"

"I never stop. You’ve got to keep creating"

"Just living, but living outside of the box and doing different things. Everything’s in play. You just have to watch what you say, because the landscape we’re living in is challenging. But I try to be wide open"

"I do think it's important that as a community, as a city that we understand that this is about getting some answers and getting some healing, so we're not dealing with these issues every week"

"St. Louis is a very polarizing city. It's been pretty segregated most my life. But we’ve been a city that has gotten along. It's kind of hard to see these injustices on any level where it feels like the people are now separated again along racial lines"

"Since I was a little boy huddled up next to my grandmother, television has always been my reliable friend, so it is an enormous honor for me to host this year's Emmy Awards"

"Throughout the roller-coaster of a year that we have all lived through, television has helped us stay connected as a society like never before. It not only entertained us, but as it always has, it helped to open our eyes, educate us, and hopefully brought about a better understanding of who we are as a people"

"I can’t speak about the content of the show but what I say is, there is a bigger conversation we need to have. Someone needs to look us in the eye and say, ‘You’re no longer free in this country. You’re not free to say what you want, you say what we want you to say. Otherwise we will cancel you.’ That’s the discussion we should have"

"I feel like Dave freed the slaves. The comedians, we were slaves to PC [politically correct] culture and he just, you know, as an artist he’s Van Gogh. Cut his ear off, he’s trying to tell us it’s OK. I just feel like he’s saying, ‘All that I have, I’m not afraid to lose it for the sake of freedom of speech. You can’t edit yourself. Comedians, we’re like…Mercedes makes a great car. But they gotta crash a lot of them before they perfect it"

"I work out lifting heavier weights because that’s, you know, that’s what the scientists say, really help you burn the sugar before you burn the fat and I’ve gotten control over my diabetes"

"So I got diagnosed with diabetes about 10 years ago. And so I started growing fresh vegetables. I only eat my vegetables"

"Get in relationships with people who can actually cause some change,"

"I think the key thing is to not only be outraged, and have your emotions on a high level, you also have to really get involved with what can be done to change things"

"I am American. I am Black. And I am proud that I’m Black"

"I asked her] if she really thought colored women would be allowed to vote if the ballot privilege was conferred on them, as it is to the colored men of the South. She assured me that if it were made the law that women might vote, the right would not be denied them"

"Race has never been less significant a factor in American success, but it has never been more significant a factor for the Democratic party's success."

"I got a phone call [after Obama got elected] from someone from the UK and they said 'President Barack Obama just got elected, the first African-American president. Yet you did not support him. Wasn't that a bit awkward?' And I said 'For him or for me?'"

"[About Barack Obama being elected president in 2008:] I didn't think it made some deep statement about America. I'm in Los Angeles and in, I think it was 1969, LA, which was the third largest city at the time, voted for a black mayor and voted for him four times. He ran twice for governor of California, the largest state in the union, and barely lost both times. And so I thought a statement was made a long time ago of how fair America is and Obama just came along and benefited from it. [...] [According to a 2007 Gallup poll examining prejudice against race, gender, age and religion], Obama had a lower hurdle, an easier path to the White House than [his opponents Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Mitt Romney], who were far more well funded and far more experienced and far better known. So don't give me this crap about how Obama somehow made a statement about how fair America is. America has been fair for a very very long period of time and he simply benefited from the changing racial attitudes that Americans have been engaging in for decades."

"[My father] was a life-long Republican [...] My father used to always say Democrats want to give you something for nothing. And when you're trying to get something for nothing you almost always end up getting nothing for something."

"The idea that the Georgia voting law is voter oppression, you're saying black people can't figure out how to vote? It's insulting!"

"As long as, every night, a black child does less homework than a white child, and substantially less homework than an Asian-American child, we're always going to have this problem. Which means it comes back to the home."

"I argue the left is the problem. They don't want to hear thoughtful disagreement whether its about climate change, whether its about racism, whether its about what the welfare state has done to the family. [...] So I urge my friends on the left to look into the mirror and ask yourself: Do you really want to have a conversation or do you really want to just denounce the other side?"

"I like where the ball was landing under [Donald Trump's presidency]. Don't look at his swing! I didn't follow him on Twitter [...] because I thought he tweeted too much on stuff I didn't care about. But I care about where the ball landed on immigration. I care about where the ball landed on the economy, on regulation, on putting conservatives on the courts. I cared about all that stuff and for my money he deserves an A+, in the face of relentless hostility. 91% of the media: negative news. Much of his own party: negative. And still this guy persevered and barely lost the election. Americans didn't repudiate Trump's policies, they repudiated Trump's personality."

"Let's all watch Alec Baldwin blame the gun."

"Poor, Paul Pelosi. First, he’s busted for DUI, and then gets attacked in his home. Hammered twice in six months."

"Larry Elder is a dangerous idiot. And I mean Trump level dangerous."

"I’ve often said our children are the living messages we send to a future that we will never see. But now our children are sending us to a future that they will never see. There’s something wrong with this picture."

"Elijah is a friend of mine, and an outstanding member of Congress."

"When the history books are written about this tumultuous era, I want them to show that I was among those in the House of Representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny."

"I want to first of all, thank you. I know that this has been hard. I know that you face a lot. I know that you are worried about your family — but this is part of your destiny. And, hopefully, this portion of your destiny will lead to a better — a better, a better Michael Cohen, a better Donald Trump, a better United States of America and a better world. And I mean that from the depths of my heart. When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked: "In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?" Did we stand on the sidelines and say nothing? … Come on, now — we can do more than one thing. And we have got to get back to normal."

"It's great to be hosting SNL again. I hosted sixteen years ago. Back then I was in great shape, I was coming off an MVP season with the Phoenix Suns - now, I play bad golf, drink, sometimes I get arrested."

"You can't start a diet in the middle of the week, that's just stupid."

"Only poor people go to jail."

"I'd have played against him (Len Bias) for the next 14 years. I would have been in my prime and he would have been in his. I'll never forget what he looked like. He was a 'Wow!' player. When Maryland played and was on television, I watched. It was like, 'I need to watch this guy; I'll be seeing him real soon.' . . . It was just shocking. Thing is, cocaine was huge then. My brother had been in and out of rehab a few times. . . . It was a popular drug at the time. And guys I was playing against, like John Lucas and Michael Ray Richardson and John Drew had done cocaine. I was thinking: 'What the hell is up with this cocaine? I should try this once to see what it was all about.' Then, we heard the reports were that Bias only used it once . . . that it was his first time. When I heard that, it scared me to death . . . scared the daylights out of me. It scared me into not trying it even once, not going anywhere near it."

"Anytime a fan touches you, you have the right to beat the hell out of him."

"Kids are great. That's one of the best things about our business, all the kids you get to meet. It's a shame they have to grow up to be regular people and come to the games and call you names."

"You know it's gone to hell, when the best rapper out there is a white guy and the best golfer is a black guy."

"Can I Play??"

"I was going to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized that I have no character."

"I don't know anything about Angola, but Angola's in trouble."

"The Oklahoma Sooners and the Hornets are the only brothers in town."

"I am not a role model. I’m not paid to be a role model. I’m paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids."

"Oklahoma is nothing but vast wasteland; no place for black people."

"If you’re gay, bless you. If you’re transgender, bless you. If you have a problem with that, f--- you!"

"Poor people have been voting for Democrats for the last fifty years... and they are still poor."

"I can't screw up Alabama... We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere."