I am a strong believer in grass roots communities, but I also believe government resources, when available, should be equally available to all people.

Like bookends, we have learned to support each other when the stuff in the middle pushes us apart.

Most people focus on forgiving others, thinking there isn't a need for self-forgiveness, particularly if they see themselves as a victim.

I haven't sought self-forgiveness because I feel I was preyed upon and not responsible for the many bad things that happened to me.

Sadness puts my heart in a prison.

I have learned to accept the fact that I will make mistakes at nearly every turn, but that those mistakes can be softened if I am honest about who I am to my girls.

You have to stop and freeze the moment, " he told me I had told her. "You have to make yourself remember by repeating it in your head over and over. You have to write to preserve your sanity.

Sometimes, the word 'voluntary' is a little complicated.

Rap will never be the same as before

I came in making choices about how I deploy aesthetics and imagery strategically. It seems to me that's the only legitimate way of making work.

Poetry is like air. It's one of the necessary things. Everyone benefits from poetry. And as you know, poetry is international. There are only two things that are truly international, poetry and wine.

One single day of devotion is worth more than a thousand years of worldly life.

The real fight is about what should be in the marketplace and what should not. Should education be a marketable commodity? Should healthcare?

Do I like to write? Why? About what? Will I give up and say, "Living and feeding a man's insatiable guts and begetting children occupies my whole life. Don't have time to write"?

All destruction, by violent revolution or however it be, is but new creation on a wider scale.

The protection of a man's person is more sacred than the protection of his property.