I grew up with music in the house. I was told I could sing as soon as I started talking. Everybody in my family sang, always lots of records, blues and jazz and soul, R&B, you know, like Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Coltrane, that kind of thing.

I often write either really early in the morning, or really late at night.

There are good reasons for being in jail - for protesting.

There have been some gains made in terms of more equality for women in the workplace and in the way the legal system deals with issues of violence against women.

We have more media than ever and more technology in our lives. It's supposed to help us communicate, but it has the opposite effect of isolating us.

I think religion played a huge part in Bush's re-election.

If you are living a life that feels right to you, if you're willing to take creative chances or a creative path that feels like it's mostly in keeping with your sensibilities, you know, aesthetic and artistic, then that's what matters.

I meet people in my daily life, people who seem to experience some change and some growth on a personal level, and that gives me hope.

If you are living a life that feels right to you, if you're willing to take creative chances or a creative path that feels like it's mostly in keeping with your sensibilities, you know, aesthetic and artistic, then that's what matters.

People's real hopes and dreams can be distorted and misdirected and packaged until you're not sure what you really want or what you even really need.