You broke me bodily. The heart ain't the half of it, And I'll never learn to laugh at it In my good natured way. In fact, I'm laughing less in general, But I learned a lot at my own funeral. And I knew you'd be the death of me, So I guess that's the price I pay.

My mother was a feminist, and she gave me some tools of self-possession and self-empowerment, but now that I have lived here for forty-three years, it's, like, whoa, there is just so much more to do, other than become myself. I'm still talking about it. I still drop the P-word, "patriarchy," on unsuspecting people in everyday conversations.

The stronger I am in my personal life, the more energy I have to look outward, to address my society.

Vulnerability is something that I negotiate every day.

You got to look outside- your eyes- you got to think outside- your brain- you got to walk outside- your life- to where the neighborhoods change.

...words are some of the most powerful and important things I know....Language is the tool of love and the weapon of hatred. It's the bright red warning flag of danger--and the stone foundation of diplomacy and peace.

I don't hate being compared with female musicians. I don't mind that at all. I have no problem with seeing connections between women's work.