I wrote the first book, and I thought people would say: 'Separate and unequal schools in the City of Boston? I didn't know that. Let's go out and fix it.'

Racial segregation has come back to public education with a vengeance.

The greatest difference between now and 1964, when I began teaching, is that public policy has pretty much eradicated the dream of Martin Luther King.

You need massive recruitment to tell the poorest of the poor what is possible.

Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.

Separate and unequal didn't work 100 years ago. It will not work today.

The first goal and primary function of the U.S. public school is not to educate good people, but good citizens. It is the function which we call - in enemy nations - 'state indoctrination.'

False hope is worse than despair.

The cause of homelessness is lack of housing.

Apartheid education, rarely mentioned in the press or openly confronted even among once-progressive educators, is alive and well and rapidly increasing now in the United States.

The ones I pity are the ones who never stick out their neck for something they believe, never know the taste of moral struggle, and never have the thrill of victory.

Stop complaining. Be grateful for every circumstance.

Is my imagination as important as reality? Sometimes I think YES... It's imagination that makes reality tolerable... Sometimes, I just want to close my eyes and fall in to the endless imagination...

Either the key to a man's wallet is in his heart, or the key to a man's heart is in his wallet. So, unless you express your charity, you are locked inside your greed.

Living life at a young age is like being a sponge thrust into the ocean. You absorb what's around you. If you're around people who are supportive and positive, that's how you look at the world.

I'm writing new music all the time. I'm just not writing pop stuff. It's not my goal.

If more people start selling ugly produce we have a chance to crack the hunger and malnutrition problems in the U.S. (Almost 90% of us do not get enough fruits and veggies).

Delight in the little things.

The14th Amendment does not require birthright citizenship. It doesn't mention it.

What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?

I think having a child can really change you if you're open to it.