In the West the past is like a dead animal. It is a carcass picked at by the flies that call themselves historians and biographers. But in my culture the past lives. My people feel this way in part because death does not separate us from our ancestors.

I do not sing politics. I merely sing the truth.

It's a really unfair world because life is, where I am; all day long we listen to American music. So I don't see why the radios in the U.S. cannot even put aside one hour a day just to play music that is not American.

I see other black women imitate my style, which is no style at all, but just letting our hair be itself. They call it the Afro Look.

There are three things I was born with in this world, and there are three things I will have until the day I die-hope, determination, and song.

I have one thing in common with the emerging black nations of Africa: We both have voices, and we are discovering what we can do with them.

I'm not a politician; I am a singer. Long ago, they said, 'That one, she sings politics.' I don't sing politics; I merely sing the truth.