music became my refuge and then my salvation.

I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.

It's so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.

After I got over the terrible pain of having something of mine taken from me, I began to think how bad everybody else must be feeling. It wasn't a nice time.

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

Malcolm X raised my consciousness about myself and my people and other people more than any person I know. I knew him before he became Malcolm X.

Nobody black or white who really believes in democracy can stand aside now; everybody's got to stand up and be counted.