"There's a certain rhythmic seduction to the word [nigger]."

"We need to recover the best of the American democratic tradition, which is a tradition of dissent, of protest, of resistance."

"We are living in a moment of existential crisis."

"To be a freedom fighter is to be a lover of humanity."

"The blues is a mode of being in the world, an existential stance, a way of grappling with the catastrophes of life."