“The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.”

Women are powerful and dangerous.

What you hear in my voice is fury, not suffering. Anger, not moral authority.

Some problems we share as women, some we do not.

I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do.

I wish to raise a Black man who will not be destroyed by, nor settle for, those corruptions called power by the white fathers who mean his destruction as surely as they mean mine.

It does not pay to cherish symbols when the substance lies so close at hand.

There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.

I am bleak heroism of words that refuse to be buried alive with the liars.

In the recognition of loving lies the answer to despair.

I have a duty to speak the truth as I see it and share not just my triumphs, not just the things that felt good, but the pain, the intense, often unmitigated pain. It is important to share how I know survival is survival and not just a walk throught the rain.

Black and Third World people are expected to educate white people as to our humanity.

We are powerful because we have survived, and that is what it is all about survival and growth.

Out of my flesh that hungers and my mouth that knows comes the shape I am seeking for reason.

The transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation .

In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction.

I find I am constantly being encouraged to pluck out some one aspect of myself and present this as the meaningful whole, eclipsing or denying the other parts of self.

All stress begins with one negative thought.

Just sitting around waiting for my life to begin, while it was all just slipping away.

I know the way you can get / When you have not had a drink of Love: / Your face hardens, / Your sweet muscles cramp. / Children become concerned / About a strange look that appears in your eyes / Which even begins to worry your own mirror / And nose.

VISUALIZE!!! See it, feel it! This is where action begins.

In the beginning, yes I did go back… (but) I learned that if it’s continued abusive, you just can’t stay there. When guys are young, they make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect, but, if they do it more than once, then it’s definitely a habit

Today begins a new saga in my life which I expect to strengthen me and allow me time for reflection. I plan to write music while in prison, read and pray regularly and will come out a stronger, more confident woman.

One never realizes how different a husband and wife can be until they begin to pack for a trip.

When a sincere woman begins to dance, the seven heavens, the earth, and all creatures begin to dance.