Market moralities and mentalities-- fueled by economic imperatives to make a profit at nearly any cost-- yield unprecedented levels of loneliness, isolation, and sadness. And our public life lies in shambles, shot through with icy cynicism and paralyzing pessimism. To put it bluntly, beneath the record-breaking stock markets on Wall Street and bipartisan budget-balancing deals in the White House lurk ominous clouds of despair across this nation.

For me music is central, so when one's talking about poetry, for the most part Plato's talking primarily about words, where I talk about notes, I talk about tone, I talk about timbre, I talk about rhythms.

Anger can be a bitterness that devours your soul while righteous indignation is morally driven, it's ethically driven.

A black agenda is jobs, jobs, jobs, quality education, investment in infrastructure and strong democratic regulation of corporations. The black agenda, at its best, looks at America from the vantage point of the least of these and asks what's best for all.

When black America is on the move, America is on the move.

Patriarchy is a disease and we are in perennial recovery and relapse. So you have to get up every morning and struggle against it.

We are intent on building a movement. The next step is grassroots town meetings. We must keep alive the dialogue around the covenants.