Black people's music is in a class by itself and always has been. There's nothing like it. The reason for that is because it was not tampered with by white people. It was not on the media. It was not anywhere except where black people were. And it is one of the art forms in which black people decided what is good in it. Nobody told them. What surfaced and what floated to the top, were the giants and the best.

For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end. A little bit of hunger, but also satisfaction.

I merged those two words, black and feminist, because I was surrounded by black women who were very tough and and who always assumed they had to work and rear children and manage homes.

When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do.

Liberation means you don't have to be silenced.

We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.

My theory is that the world is a difficult place to live in and distraction is the name of the game.