The nature of tragedy and accident is that we cannot predict.

I think one of the nicest things that we created as a generation was just the fact that we could say, 'Hey, I don't like white people.'

We [Black people] have always used our creativity to battle and we're not the only ones. Black Americans are certainly leaders in that simply because we were denied education and dealt with enforced illiteracy. But people seem to always forget that literacy is not the only way of learning things or conveying knowledge.

I am honest; I try to be truthful. I like people and wish us well. We are not always deserving of our own best wishes.

I spend a lot of time learning about bird watching.

Style has a profound meaning to Black Americans. If we can’t drive, we will invent walks and the world will envy the dexterity of our feet. If we can’t have ham, we will boil chitterlings; if we are given rotten peaches, we will make cobblers; if given scraps, we will make quilts; take away our drums, and we will clap our hands. We prove the human spirit will prevail. We will take what we have to make what we need. We need confidence in our knowledge of who we are.

We are better than we think and not yet what we want to be.