It's odd to say we had our first African American president before our first African-American-owned movie studio, but we're making progress.

Byron Allen

Categorized in : Say American President Progress

I have to have a seat at the table. I have to have a say on how we, as African-Americans, are produced and depicted around the world. Along the way, I'll be very fair to white people.

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Hollywood is a casino. You have to put your chips on the table and hope for the best.

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When you look at America and its diversity, it's not a coincidence it's the best country on earth. Subtract that diversity, and it wouldn't be the greatest nation.

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I personally knew and worked with Sammy Davis, Jr. Sammy hired me to open for him at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas when I was a 19-year-old standup comedian, and that's where my fascination with his incredible story began.

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We need one America - one that includes housing, education, jobs, access to capital, and economic inclusion for every American. This will create a stronger America.

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At the very least, you must make the Internet free in areas that are poverty-stricken. Without the Internet and access to information, poverty-stricken households will never catch up to households above the poverty line - throwing the African-American community deeper into the stone ages.

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What we have to do is get the corporations to understand you must include African-American-owned media.

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Black America now has the power to achieve economic inclusion, which we rightfully deserve because we built this country. This is a conversation that white America doesn't really want to have.

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When 'Real People' aired in 1979, we did OK in Los Angeles and New York. What kept that show from being canceled were the ratings from the middle of the country, and that's what kept us in the top five. I learned then from co-hosting that it was important to focus on the country between Los Angeles and New York.

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When you start punishing and censoring comedians, that's a real bad sign of us as Americans losing our First Amendment rights. As a comedian, I'm gonna push the boundaries. Some things you're going to love, and some things you're going to hate. But this is America. Great people died for us to have this right.

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I'm not chasing independence, I'm chasing Walt Disney. I'm looking for a large piece of that box-office pie, not a tiny piece of that box-office pie.

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There has to be a place carved out for independents, films where the heroes don't fly around in capes, but there are journeys and struggles we need to learn from and be inspired by.

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I'm listening to the audience. Too many people in Hollywood make what they want to see and not what we want to see. I'm about us. Not about me.

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I think you develop strong instincts when you're a comedian. You have to pay your bills by making people laugh every six seconds... or not. I had to do that for 22 years.

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African-Americans don't need handouts and donations; we can hire ourselves if white corporate America does business with us in a fair and equitable way.

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Al Sharpton is not important. He's nothing more than a black pawn in a very sophisticated white economic chess game.

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That's going to help us to amplify the sporting events, and to help educate these kids at those schools.

I never really quite thought it was a good idea, Black News Channel, i don't think we need Black News Channel. I think we need a good news channel.

This is a very bad day for our country, we will continue our fight by going to Congress and the presidential candidates to revise the statute to overcome this decision by the United States Supreme Court.