She could see that to lose a sibling was hard: it could only seem unnatural:out of time, out of order, a vicious re-run of your own departure into nothingness.

Maybe to feel superior in struggle was sensed, When people were aware to fight for identity.'-Terzanelle for Octavia Estelle Butler, poem by Marieta Maglas

We don't want to put a band-aid on our problems that we keep talking about in society; we want to get down to the nitty gritty and do some surgery.

I'm light skinned, and I used to lean on that because that's something a lot of black people pride themselves on, and it's weird.

I can't imagine what they're planning. But I can tell you two things. We won't like it, and it won't be legal.

Make 2012 the year that you were nice.. because people don't like not nice people.. so be nice.. all the time!

For me, there's still a lot of room to grow; I'm just happy that I have so much more to give.

Life and people are complex. A writer as an artist doesn't have the personality of a politician. We don't see the world that simply.

The capitalist system, in spite of all obstacles put in its way by governments and politicians, has raised the standard of living of the masses in an unprecedented way.

I always took photographs. I photographed a lot of trees, by the way, which is another image I used often in my work, the tree image.