I'm still divided in my principles and what I think is right and what I'm actually able to do, whether talking about writing or being a citizen or being a husband or being a father. And I'm trying to get better.

I had a deep prejudice against the South. It's taken me many years to get over that, be more open and thoughtful.

Even in my adult years, when I heard a white person speaking in a Southern accent I was initially suspicious.

My grandfather had asked me many times whether I'd like to come to South Carolina with him. He wanted to introduce me to our people down there and I didn't want to go. In those days, the South was still a place where black kids were lynched. Something horrible could happen to you. I've had that feeling my whole life.

Things seem to fall apart inevitably.

Everything is up for grabs, everything is relative. Except nothing is if you are serious about it because the moment you become serious about answering a question you have a stake in it. Relatively goes out of the window, in one sense because you're putting your a** out there - you are depending on the answer, you need the answer.

If Mumia Abu-Jamal has nothing important to say, why are so many powerful people trying to shut him up?