"Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another."

"I think of myself as an American writer. I don't think of myself as a Black writer."

"I write to find out what I think."

"There is no place you can go and be safe, because there is no place that you can go and be free."

"Black people have always been there. We're just not being seen. And when we are seen, we're seen as a problem."