I am making an effort to truly live. I don't mean to imply by that that I haven't been alive before but, with my son being here and such a powerful force in my life, he's given me a freedom to be more. I think that sometimes we can get stuck, and just the fact that he's here says so much to me about my own existence. I didn't think I'd be able to have children, and this level of blessing is something I can't even put my finger on.

I'd been told that when you first put your feet on African ground, you'll be hit by a feeling of overwhelming understanding, like you've returned home and suddenly belong. Quite frankly, I didn't feel that.

Heartbreak was the impetus to me writing poems and music in the first place. Over the years, I had my heart broken so badly that if I didn't find a way to get all the pain out, I was going to lose my mind. I was crazy! Like, wanting to slash tires and smash car windows. Crazy! I was so hurt that I had to write.

Sometimes, for principle, your gonna have to kick some ass.

A woman is more than the sum of her parts.

I'm a method actor as well as a method singer.

Nikki Giovanni! I got a book of hers from the library, and there was this woman who could paint me on paper with words - my whole little experience. I thought it was wonderful.