I believe in the American theatre. I believe in its power to inform about the human condition, its power to heal ... its power to uncover the truths we wrestle from uncertain and sometimes unyielding realities.

The impulse to write the poem, that impulse is a great dramatic impulse. But hell, anybody could write a play. I do know this: all writers are not dramatists. You may be a great writer, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're a dramatist. Very few people have done both.

As long as the colored man look to white folks to put the crown on what he say . . . as long as he looks to white folks for approval . . . then he ain't never gonna find out who he is and what he's about.

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.

For me, the original play becomes an historical document: This is where I was when I wrote it, and I have to move on now to something else.

You get to the point where your demons, which are terrifying, get smaller and smaller and you get bigger and bigger.

All you need is the blues. To me, the blues is the book, it's the bible, it's everything.