My greatest influence has been the blues. And that's a literary influence, because I think the blues is the best literature that we as black Americans have.

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.

Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.

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.

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

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

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.