People who are suffering have to visualize ways out of tragedy to actually get out of it.

I want a theory to come out to guide policy.

Once I became historically aware, I realized there are these formative moments of history tied around tragedy and disaster and sacrifice, that led people to survive and take stock and move on with some kind of notion of betterment.

I'm interested in someone who's mired in grief: how do you get back to that thing that makes them warm? Because you know that's in there.

I usually feel something before I know it.

With kids, they force you to get out of bed. They force you to smile. They remind you of spontaneity.

I was on the wrong side of colonization. My ancestry is mostly mired in having the colonial experience as colonized subjects, first as slaves and then as independent subjects with a post-colonial experience.