I've done a lot of fighting in my time, and I'm down to do some more. I don't want to, but you know, there's just certain things that you can't sit down and take.
Back in my mid-20s I was told I'd never be able to have children as I wasn't having periods. Doctors tried to start up my monthly cycles, but when nothing worked, they actually offered me a hysterectomy. Without it, they said I might get ovarian cancer in the future. I chose not to have the operation, and am so glad I didn't.
If a woman is happy, then your society is happy.
I don't necessarily think of myself as a feminist, but I'm a whole person. I'm not just breasts or ass or thighs - I'm a whole being! And it just seems like women aren't necessarily striving to be the whole of themselves.
I'm a world-class people watcher. I like to watch people's body movements, their expressions. It says so much about them.
For me, hair is an accoutrement. Hair is jewelry. It's an accessory.
I like a man who smells good. Puts on cologne; lotions his body. It keeps me wanting. I like feeling that way.
Everybody's looking for love, and you want to love somebody and be loved in return.
When I get onstage, I automatically feel beautiful.
Power doesn't have to be on such a big scale for powerful things to occur. Within your own home, you can be a powerful woman as a mother, influencing your children's lives.
When I write a song, I tap into the emotion and the feeling and then I use the emotion to write the words. It's the opposite when I act. I use the words and tap into the emotion.
I could float in the pool for hours, just letting the water carry me.
Africa the continent is not just what we see on the news. It's... not AIDS, and it's not just war and poverty. It's so much more. It's an abundant continent, and Botswana is an abundant place.
I see myself being a great-grandmother at my great-grandson's graduation from a school that has my name on it.
I don't think I'll get married again. I'm not looking for it. What I can say about my divorce and my failed engagement is that I learned where my bar is.
I think all any artist or person wants to do is grow spiritually, emotionally, professionally and mentally.
There's something really magical about having a child - it's like permission to begin again, start over, reevaluate some things, check yourself. Recognize yourself.
I need to find creative diversity because if I get stuck, I get unhappy.
My mother's a genius. She just kept feeding me art on whatever we had; paper plates, silver platter, didn't matter. You know, she just kept feeding it to me. So we went to see all kinds of theater. We would go to the art museum pretty much every Sunday, and I would watch her. She let me know that art was supposed to touch.
I always wanted to be a renaissance woman, do as many things as I possibly can and hopefully do them well or don't do them at all.
My heart and prayers go out to all single moms because it's tough, and I can't imagine any teenager dealing with a baby and all those hormones raging.
Being a mom, it feels like I did something so powerful and amazing. It's such a gigantic blessing, and a confirmation that the Creator exists. And all of that has made me feel sexier and stronger. I call it 'lava in my spine.'
A lot of the girls I grew up with were pregnant by the time they were 16. I just was lucky.
That's what I enjoy most about my music, that it heals in its own time and makes us look at ourselves in its own time.
Sometimes I feel like a Buddhist and I need to chant; sometimes a Baptist and I need to holler and shout; and sometimes I need to be a Catholic and need to purge my sins and confess. It just depends on where I am.
