I call the language of political figures, pundits and administrators "the haute couture of language."

When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots,' and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not.

Friendship is a wildly underrated medication.

I mean, I think that - as an actress, in particular, I'm basically a fool, and I see the world upside down.

That artists are called to be more responsible and 'true' is a tip of hat to their power.

I happen to be a hopeaholic. I tend to look at problems as an opportunity to do some work.

The individuals inside are frequently fighting that their individual voices be heard, while the walls of the place, which are the mask, and the perception, are reluctant to give over to the voices of the individuals. Those in the margins are always trying to get to the center, and those at the center, frequently in the name of tradition, are trying to keep the margins at a distance. Part of the identity of a place is the tension between those in the margins, and those in the center, and they all live behind the walls which wear the tradition.