Context shapes who you are.

Profound music leads us beyond language...to the dark roots of our scream and the celestial heights of our silence.

The basic problem with my love relationships with women is that my standards are so high - and they apply equally to both of us. I seek full-blast mutual intensity, fully fledged mutual acceptance, full-blown mutual flourishing, and fully felt peace and joy with each other. This requires a level of physical attraction, personal adoration, and moral admiration that is hard to find.

There are three dominant tendencies in a neoliberal society: financialized, privatized, militarized. And when it comes to black poor people, we get all three.

The wonderful thing about the black church for me is that it forces you to come to terms with the centrality of love in the world.

I would say you have to fight in the life of the mind as well as fight in the streets, as well as fight in the courts, as well as fight in congress and the White House. Every site is a sight of contestation.

There is always a very delicate interplay between individual actions and institutional conditions.