Don't let others put thoughts into your mind that takes away your self-confidence.
Serendipity always rewards the prepared.
'Hurt Village' is based on a real housing project in Memphis, about three minutes away from the Lorraine Hotel where Dr. King was assassinated, so in my work I'm focusing on a very specific area in Memphis. I see 'Hurt Village' as a natural extension of 'The Mountaintop.'
We expect our leaders to be godlike. But I feel that when people try to sanctify leadership, it puts it out of the realm of regular people. And that's where the greatest leaders come from - from the people.
I feel the feminist movement has excluded black women. You cannot talk about being black and a woman within traditional feminist dialogue.
Theatre is an exclusive place that tends to be dominated by white men, or dying white men.
Follow your intuition, listening to your dreams, your inner voice to guide you.
Unlike films, which can be easily disseminated worldwide via DVDs and the Internet, plays struggle to find an international audience.
Most of the time, when I'm writing, I'm writing for myself. I'm thinking, 'What will my character say at this time? What will come out of her mouth?' I create individuals so real to me, I sometimes start talking to them. Then I let them loose on the page.
In order to be great, you just have to care. You have to care about your world, community, and equality.
I'm very opinionated, very intelligent and not afraid to show that.
I always crave to see more stories about and by people of color, particularly new work by young black writers.
It is expensive to give plays subtitles, especially for a short run, so most new dramas rarely cross the transcontinental bridge.
I always felt like Broadway was not for me - in terms of ticket price, in terms of what was on there. I never saw myself reflected in the mirror of the Great White Way.
As a black woman who grows up in a predominantly white neighborhood, you learn how to perform a 'good' version of yourself. And then when you're with your home girls, you're saying all kinds of stuff that sounds all kinds of crazy, but you understand each other because you're speaking the way that you're comfortable with.
I never, ever read the comments below an article on the Web. People are mean. I'm a human being.
I'll never be August Wilson - but what I can be is more of myself.
Playwrights are the most gregarious writers - to get our work done, we need actors, directors, set designers.
I feel a responsibility to continue creating complex roles for black women, especially young black women.
I can only speak for myself, but when I was growing up in Memphis - and having the Martin Luther King holiday and the moment of pause on April 4th - he was just a statue to me. I wanted to make him a little bit more real to me as a human being.
