The First Thing I Did [in Michigan]

I Was Arrested 1965. I Had Come Back From The Merchant Marines, Got Into Conversations About The War. I Had Never Heard Of Vietnam Until I Was In The Merchant Marines In Constitution Square In Athens, And I Picked Up The New York Herald Or The International Herald Tribune And There Was My First Introduction Of The Word Vietnam.

The First Thing I Did [in Michigan] Was Join A Picket Line Of A Pizzeria In Ann Harbor In 1963 That Didn't Allow African Americans To Eat There.

I Wanted A Racially Just Society. I Wanted To End Wars. I Wanted To End White Supremacy. I Wanted To Create A World That Was Based On Egalitarianism, Sharing, Racial Justice.

Being An Activist And An Artist - Those Two Things Should Go Together. You Should Allow The Artistic Sensibility To Control Some Of Your Activism, But Never Should It Be Allowed To Paralyze You.

If You Were Against Slavery In 1840 And A White Person, You Would Have Been Against The Law, The Bible, Your Church, Your Pastor, Your Parents, Common Sense, Tradition, Everything. You Would Have Been Against Everything.