Most of my work for the past 25 years has been devoted to organizing demonstrations, benefits and campaigns, many of which have had the effect of bringing a policy debate to public focus or moving a political agenda forward. It's become a cliché to say 'think globally and act locally,' but it works.

The songs we sing invite the participation of the listener, who is central to finding a way of creating the life of the song at that listening. It's the difference between poetry and didactic writing. One tells you, 'This is it,' and the other says, 'Let's find this together.'

We've lived through a time in which people have felt they could forge their own future and make a better world. We may not have achieved our dreams in the time frame that we once believed was realistic, but the magnitude of what is yet to be achieved only confirms the importance of our commitment. Knowing this, we can't stop now.

The songs worked as a different kind of rhetoric, one that could reach the fence-sitters.

A flip-flopper is an intelligent person who changes position when the circumstance changes.

The ethic behind songs of conscience doesn't change, even though the issues are altered from generation to generation.

We can only move to a long-term resolution regarding terrorism and war by planting seeds of peace. We have to start with ourselves.