Love liberates. Love - not sentimentality, not mush - but true love gives you enough courage that you can say to somebody, "Don't do that, baby." And the person will know you're not preaching but teaching.

I long for the time when all human history is taught as one history, because it really is.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.

I've learned that forgiving is one of the greatest gifts that I can give myself.

In so many ways, segregation shaped me, and education liberated me.

Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

It's a wonderful thing to know that there is something to know there is something greater than I am, and that is God itself.