As soon as white folks say a play's good, the theater is jammed with blacks and whites.

A novelist writes a novel, and people read it. But reading is a solitary act. While it may elicit a varied and personal response, the communal nature of the audience is like having five hundred people read your novel and respond to it at the same time. I find that thrilling.

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

Jazz in itself is not struggling. That is, the music itself is not struggling... It's the attitude that's in trouble. My plays insist that we should not forget or toss away our history.

There are always and only two trains running. There is life and there is death. Each of us rides them both. To live life with dignity, to celebrate and accept responsibility for your presence in the world is all that can be asked of anyone.

As soon as white folks say a play's good, the theater is jammed with blacks and whites.

I think that's the core of black aesthetics: the ability to improvise. That is what has enabled our [black people's] survival.