Suddenly in high school, I'm in a predominantly Jewish atmosphere. Jewish people were my gate to white America.

Many people are afraid to talk about race because it's so emotionally loaded. We don't have the vocabulary to talk about it. Every day, our vocabulary seems more and more inadequate.

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.

People who are sick, or who have been sick, or have come close to death have a lot to say - and they want you to hear it.

I have never been in a violent movie or television show.

I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment.

Listening is not just hearing what someone tells you word for word. You have to listen with a heart. I don't want that to sound touchy-feely; it is not. It is very hard work.