I'm really saddened by the attempts to separate and polarize. This is a time when we have hungry people, people out of work, and people out of spirit. This is a time where we need to uplift, not to separate.

To be human is to be challenged to be more divine. Not even to try to meet such a challenge is the biggest defeat imaginable.

I thought I'm going to die. So why can't I do everything? And what is this idea that I worked all day yesterday, so I'm tired today? I've never believed that.I thought, "Just suppose I could choreograph a ballet." And I did it. Suppose I could teach dance at the theater in Cleveland. And I did it. Suppose I could sing for a living - that I could stop these two jobs as a waitress and a salesperson.

Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives. The struggle for equality continues unabated, and the woman warrior who is armed with wit and courage will be among the first to celebrate victory.

Always in the black spirituals there's that promise that things are going to be better, by and by.

Just as hope rings through laughter, it can also shine through tears.

Whining is not only graceless, but it can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.