Optimism is evidence-based.

We have to be self-critical even in context that we might be critical of, even as we - our pieces appear in it.

White supremacy is so deep-seated that it's hard to see it eliminated. But we could definitely push it back.

For most of the history of the American empire, government has been a tool for preserving and furthering the power and might of white male corporate elites.

I had a passion and love of learning and wisdom that was inseparable from a love of music and the arts. I've never viewed them in any way as being separable.

I was a gangster when I was young. I had a Robin Hood mentality and tended to always want to support the weak against the strong, but sometimes it was cohesive and I really needed to fall in love with the power of education to find the right venue to express my rage. I still have a righteous indignation at injustice, no matter what form it takes.

I think that in a certain sense, we're concerned about the same issues. How do you accent the progressive, the prophetic, those things that are critical of all forms of injustice, all forms of bigotry, all forms of dehumanizing other people, and yet still allow for a certain kind of flow, linguistic flow, certain kinds of melodies and harmonies in the samplings that take place?