“I dont regret anything Ive ever done in life, any choice that Ive made. But Im consumed with regret for the things I didnt do, the choices I didnt make, the things I didnt say. We spend so much tim...”

“he way my mother always explained it, the traditional man wants a woman to be subservient, but he never falls in love with subservient women. Hes attracted to independent women. Hes like an exotic ...”

“We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.”

“It didn't matter that there was a war on our doorstep. She had things to do, places to be.”

“The hood is also a low-stress, comfortable life. All your mental energy goes into getting by, so you dont have to ask yourself any of the big questions. Who am I? Who am I supposed to be? Am I doin...”

“Relationships are built in the silences.”

“Mental ghettos are not mirages; they actually exist in palpable reality: being "open" inside one's mental or intellectual ghetto does not open its door but simply allows one to harbour the illusion...”

“You really want to know what being an X-Man feels like? Just be a smart bookish boy of color in a contemporary U.S. ghetto. Mamma mia! Like having bat wings or a pair of tentacles growing out of yo...”

“Who originates the latest slang terms that are, seemingly overnight, known to every black youth across the country?”

“Talk is cheap for the man who boasts his worth, you don't have to take my word to know who i am.”

“Music is my hustle.”

“Focused. I'm a hustler. And my hustle is trying to figure out the best ways to do what I like without having to do much else.”