Singing and acting suit me. I made a vow to myself, to do everything that I can do with this life that I have, and I have to find the time to do this. Sometimes I need to be an actress. Sometimes I don't need to be Jill.

I could hear music playing in the background of works by certain authors, like Poe and Shakespeare. And I discovered Nikki Giovanni when I was in eighth grade. Her writing has a musical energy with pulse and rhythm, almost like jazz or hip-hop.

I'm being all of me, and it feels stupendous. I don't want to leave this feeling.

I've been reading poetry publicly for 20 years, and this is what you do - you express, you sometimes dig a bit to get a conversation started. That's the point of poetry. You're supposed to go, 'Hmmmm,' and 'Woooh!'

When I sing, I have to live in that moment, so my audience can feel that. That is my reason for doing art.

Just bc u loved and lost doesn't mean stop loving. If u have a nightmare, does it mean u stop dreaming?

I don't necessarily think of myself as a feminist, but I'm a whole person.