To me, the black black woman is our essential mother, the blacker she is the more us she is and to see the hatred that is turned on her is enough to make me despair, almost entirely, of our future as a people.

To know is to exist; to exist is to be involved, to move about, to see the world with my own eyes.

You know, one race will not be a survivor if the other one dies, and that's something that we should think about.

If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for.

I can imagine in years to come that my papers and memorabilia, my journals and letters, will find themselves always in the company of people who care about many of the things I do.

Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.

The infinite faith I have in people's ability to understand anything that makes sense has always been justified, finally, by their behavior.