My mother had a rule, obviously, that I couldn't go across the street by myself, but I had to find a way of doing it.

My mother taught me three things: respect, knowledge, search for knowledge. It's an eternal journey.

My mother was a woman. A black woman. A single mother. Raising two kids on her own. So she was dark skinned. Had short hair. Got no love from nobody except for a group called the Black Panthers. So that's why she was a Black Panther.

My mother told me to keep on singing, and that kept me working through the cotton fields. She said God has his hand on you. You'll be singing for the world someday.

Art keeps me alive. I've obviously been devastated or heartbroken all my life, since my mother's death.

My mother was the making of me. She was so true and so sure of me, I felt that I had someone to live for - someone I must not disappoint. The memory of my mother will always be a blessing to me.