When I start to write something, I suppose I want it to change me, to make me into something not myself.

I didn't really understand racism because I grew up in an all-black society, so I didn't see how it was possible not to like me!

I like melancholy. I like to pretend that I'm alone in the world and I'm just sort of abandoned.

There's a difference between bravery and rash stupidity.

People only say I’m angry because I’m black and I’m a woman.

The people who invented race, who grouped us together as "black," were inventing and categorizing their ability to do something vicious and wrong.

Someone who knew me well once accused me of being unromantic. And that's probably true: I don't trust romance.