I remember how being young and black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine, feeling I had the truth and the light and the key, but a lot of it was purely hell.

Even the smallest victory is never to be taken for granted. Each victory must be applauded.

The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives.

It does not pay to cherish symbols when the substance lies so close at hand.

The oppression of women knows no ethnic nor racial boundaries, true, but that does not mean it is identical within those boundaries.

The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken.

Art is not living. It is the use of living. The artist has the ability to take the living and use it in a certain way and produce art.