All of my works are performance pieces, as is true for many writers of color, writers who have indigenous roots - because our basis is spoken word.

The real servant of the people must live among them, think with them, feel for them, and die for them.

If the Negro in the ghetto must eternally be fed by the hand that pushes him into the ghetto, he will never become strong enough to get out of the ghetto.

No man knows what he can do until he tries.

Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.

For me, education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better.

The mere imparting of information is not education. Above all things, the effort must result in making a man think and do for himself.

When I was a child, I was very shy, and there's still a part of me that's very shy.

I hope I'm not just looked as a writer that is popular but as a writer of literary value.

The stories are what no one wants to talk about. So you make up a story because no one is going to tell you the truth.

I was silent as a child, and silenced as a young woman; I am taking my lumps and bumps for being a big mouth, now, but usually from those whose opinion I don't respect.

I do travel a lot, because I need oxygen, I need to go to places to meet people who aren't upset at me because I'm asking for peace.

Write about what makes you different.

I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog.