We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

If everybody became a poet the world would be much better. We would all read to each other.

I knew Stokely [Carmichael] and them, but when you got to that, you saw that Nina Simone started to take up their burden. She started to preach for them. She was taking on the burden of "I want to tell the people."

Everyone understands that love comes in many different packages and is used in many different ways. You cannot love beyond your years, nor can you fail to love beneath them... In other words, I think you get the love you need when you open your heart.

We write because we believe the human spirit cannot be tamed and should not be trained.

Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream - they go together.

My main strength as a young writer was that I had no fear of making mistakes. I knew I would and I knew I could and would learn from them.