Since I personified the savage on the stage, I tried to be as civilized as possible in daily life.

One day I realized I was living in a country where I was afraid to be black. It was only a country for white people. Not black. So I left. I had been suffocating in the United States... A lot of us left, not because we wanted to leave, but because we couldn't stand it anymore... I felt liberated in Paris.

A violinist had a violin, a painter his palette. All I had was myself. I was the instrument that I must care for.

I believe in prayer. It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven.

I spent 30 minutes each morning rubbing my body with half a lemon to lighten my skin.

I was learning the importance of names - having them, making them - but at the same time I sensed the dangers. Recognition was followed by oblivion, a yawning maw whose victims disappeared without a trace.

What am I most ashamed of in my life? Not keeping my promise to my sister and being too scared of America to attend her funeral.