I was an actor. The reward was an acknowledgment of that, but the real joy was in the work. My family is from the Southern Virginia and North Carolina. Descendants of Africa, but a couple of my grandparents also have a lot of Native blood in them. I'm the all american boy, though not everyone sees it like that.
Dominican people have a similar ethnic mix.
Met with John Singleton and the theme from Isaac Hayes came on the radio. I took that as an omen that it was meant to be. The old Shaft is born out of a particular time, the late 60' and early 70's. It's reflective of a cultural aura that was happening then. And John Shaft was a cinematic hero born out of that.