Cheo Hodari Coker Quotes

To me, Harlem is one of the most important places on the earth, particularly when it comes to talking about African Americans.

As a child, I experienced black culture as many people did in America: on the TV, radio, and stages.

I wanted to explore black culture, and I wanted that culture to be a revelation.

All black art is always judged to illuminate our experience and prove that our stories and our history and our lives matter. And that goes back to Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston - take your pick.

Slaves and the descendants of slaves created world pop culture. Let's keep it real and be very respectful about that.

Black culture has been a huge influence in my life.

There are a great many colored people who are ashamed of the cake-walk, but I think they ought to be proud of it.

From blood banking to the modern subway, from jazz to social justice, the contributions of African Americans have shaped and molded and influenced our national culture and our national character.

There is a distinctive African American culture that has roots in Africa and evolved on American soil.

I viewed black musicals before 'Jelly' as a form of cultural strip mining. The exterior remained, but all the culture that signified where the people had come from and their connection to the earth was absent.

When I was growing up, 'Ebony Magazine' was a must read in our household. In those pages I found our news, our stories, and my pride.

Harlem's streets lead backward, into history, straight to a work such as 'This Was Harlem.'

From politics and business to music and food to culture, African-Americans have helped to shape our state's colourful past and its future.

You've got to appreciate the things that come from the art of the Negro and from the heart of the man farthest down.

American music culture is black culture.

I do consider myself part of black history.

America is deeply rooted in Negro culture: its colloquialisms; its humor; its music.

My biggest inspiration is black America and what they've done in the arts. I have always felt like an outsider in America, and what black Americans have done to add their chapter to this book called the American dream, and to be so unapologetic and true, and have added so much to art and culture in the world.

There is no monolithic black culture. It's completely different for someone born in Harlem to someone born in Houston or London with one exception, which is that people contributing to black culture have the experience of being black.

'Smart Funny and Black' is basically a live black pop culture game show that I created. We have a live band. We have two contestants that we call 'blacksperts.' They come on stage and compete in games that I've created that test their knowledge of black culture, black history, and the black experience.

I'm especially honored that The Black Gents will debut Off-Broadway and pay tribute to The Tuskegee Airmen and other ancestors of that time who have embodied excellence, self-determination, and self-discipline.

Manhattan was the capital of the twentieth century for black writers, artists, and intellectuals as much as it was for their white counterparts.

Black History Month is a poignant time for the entire country, but particularly the African American community.

As long as black people preserve their culture in Harlem, Harlem will always be alive.

Black History Month could focus less on slavery and civil rights and more on the Harlem Renaissance and everything we have achieved. I want to know about the whole black experience.