The details of our struggle to survive and prosper, in what has been a difficult and sometimes bitter relationship with a system of laws and practices that deny us access to the tools necessary for productive and industrious life, are available to any serious student of history or sociology.

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.

I first got involved in theater in 1968, at the height of a social tumult. I was a poet.

I write for myself and my goal is bringing that world and that experience of black Americans to life on the stage and giving it a space there.

I think the play offers (white Americans) a different way to look at black Americans For instance, in 'Fences' they see a garbageman, a person they don't really look at, although they see a garbageman every day. By looking at Troy's life, white people find out that the content of this black garbageman's life is affected by the same things- love, honor, beauty, betrayal, duty. Recognizing that these things are as much part of his life as theirs can affect how they think about and deal with black people in their lives.

Your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel.

All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other.