Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.

The blues are important primarily because they contain the cultural expression and the cultural response to blacks in America and to the situation that they find themselves in. And contained in the blues is a philosophical system at work. And as part of the oral tradition, this is a way of passing along information.

I am not a historian. I happen to think that the content of my mother's life - her myths, her superstitions, her prayers, the contents of her pantry, the smell of her kitchen, the song that escaped from her sometimes parched lips, her thoughtful repose and pregnant laughter - are all worthy of art.

Have a belief in yourself that is bigger than anyone's disbelief.

I found out life's hard but it ain't impossible.

I been with strangers all day and they treated me like family. I come in here to family and you treat me like a stranger.

I don't write for a particular audience.