. . . what happened, of course, was that I was writing a play set in the 1940's that was supposed to be somehow representative of black American life, and I didn't have any women in there. And I knew that wasn't going to work.

I cried a river of tears but he was too heavy to float on them. So I dragged him with me these years across an ocean.

I dont write particularly to effect social change. I believe writing can do that, but thats not why I write.

You got to take the crookeds with the straights. That's what Papa used to say.

I don't write for a particular audience.

Suffice it to say, I'm not poor.

. . . what happened, of course, was that I was writing a play set in the 1940's that was supposed to be somehow representative of black American life, and I didn't have any women in there. And I knew that wasn't going to work.