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I Did An Internship At The Ardent Theatre Company In Philly After Dropping Out Of College. I Was Earning $165 A Week Building Sets And Cleaning The Toilets. Cleaning Toilets Is A Good Way Of Getting In Touch With Your Creativity. That's When You Find Out If You Got Anything Going On In Your Head.

-Jill Scott

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I Did An Internship

Jill Scott

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I Did An Internship At The Ardent Theatre Company In Philly After Dropping Out Of College. I Was Earning $165 A Week Building Sets And Cleaning The Toilets. Cleaning Toilets Is A Good Way Of Getting In Touch With Your Creativity. That's When You Find Out If You Got Anything Going On In Your Head.

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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.

I Am A Woman, I Make Mistakes. I Make Them Often. God Has Given Me A Talent And That`s It.

A Woman Is More Than The Sum Of Her Parts.

I Think, As An Artist, You Have To Have Experienced Some Deep Turmoil, Some Kind Of Pain, Because That's What Connects You With The World. That's What Makes It Juicy!

I'm Going To Do As Much As I Can With This Life, And Then I'm Going To Make Sure To Take Some Time Off And Be Simple And Ride My Bike And Hang Out With Friends.

I Had To Wear A Fat Suit To Play Mma Ramotswe In 'the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.' She's Described As Being Like A Small Elephant, But She Loves Her Body And Size. When We Were Filming In Africa, It Was 110f. It Was Torturous. I Drank A Lot Of Water And Ate Cucumbers All The Time, And Underneath The Fat Suit I Shed Pounds - I Couldn't Help It.

Sometimes, For Principle, Your Gonna Have To Kick Some Ass.

I Believe The Relationship You Have With Your Government Is Not So Different To A Love Relationship.

Love Relationship

I Truly Have A Village Supporting Me. My Son Has Godmothers, Godfathers, Grandparents And So Many Others In His Life Who Love Him As Much As I Do. They're There For Both Of Us. I May Not Have A Mate Or Husband, But I'm Definitely Not A Single Parent.

I'm Excited About Turning 40. I've Been An Adult For A Long Time, But There Is A Difference Between Being An Adult And Being A Grown-up. I'm Someone's Mummy Now And I'm Enjoying That. I Feel As If I'm About To Hit My Peak.

I Think The First Time I Really Heard Poetry Was In The Schoolyard. Just The Little Limericks That Kids Say When They're Jumping Rope And Playing Games. I Think That's The First Time I Heard Rhyming Words - I Don't Know If I'd Call That The Definitive Poetry, But That's When I Heard Rhyming Words Said And Not Necessarily Sung.

When You Get A Jean For A Larger Girl, You Have To Have Them Tailored For You. Tailoring Is Indeed Everything.

For A Writer It's A Dream To Sit And Watch People As Close As Possible.

I Would Say For Every Successful Black Woman In America Or In The World, Really, It's Difficult To Be The Head Of The Household, Financially. It Is For The Man In Your Life. It Can Be Very Hard For Them. And There's A Delicate Balance. I'm Not Quite Sure I Know What That Balance Is Just Yet.

I Could Float In The Pool For Hours, Just Letting The Water Carry Me.

I Love Foods That Start In My Cheeks And Then Vibrate Up.

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.

Just Bc U Loved And Lost Doesn't Mean Stop Loving. If U Have A Nightmare, Does It Mean U Stop Dreaming?

Everybody Is Supposed To Be A Part Of Their Own Community.

I Have A Few Caftans Just For Lounging Purposes. When I Want To Feel Free, It's The Closest Thing To Feeling Naked Without Being Naked.

I Just Want To Continue To Grow, As An Actor, And Dig. Hopefully, One Day, I'll Lose Myself In A Role. My Only Worry About That Is That I Just Want To Be Able To Come Back Home. I Don't Want To Get Lost Forever. That Scares Me.

I've Always Enjoyed Shows Like 'the X-files,' Where You're On The Edge Of Your Seat And You're So Invested In These Characters.

At My Aunt's Funeral, I Promised Myself That I Wouldn't Be Bound By The Belief That I'm Supposed To Stay In Anything - Whether It's A Relationship, A Job, A House, Or A Circumstance - If It Makes Me Miserable. She Gave Me The Courage To Find My Own Happiness.

Once I Started Looking For A Record Deal, I Had A Trainer. And The Trainer Told Me That I Would Never Sell A Record If I Didn't Lose Weight.

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'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.

My Grill Is Intended To Be Discreet. It's There Because I Enjoy Jewelry.

If You Can't Help Me Grow, There's No Point With You Being In My Life.

I Want To Continue Growing As An Actress. There Are Ways That I Can Reach Quicker, Or Deeper, With Acting.

When Jett Puts My Face In His Hands And Tells Me, 'mommy You're So Pretty' Or Smells Me, It's So Wonderful.

I Think I've Changed More As A Person And, As I Change As A Person, There Is New Added Creativity. I've Seen More... I've Met More People, Done More Things With Dogs, And Walked On More Beaches Since The Beginning. The More I See, The More I Wanna Do; And The More I Do, The More I Wanna See.

The Artists Who Stand Out To Me Have A Passion For What They Do. There Are A Lot Of People Who Can Sing. It's Just Like When You Go To Church And People Are Singing Because It Sounds Good, Not Because It Feels Good. There's A Difference.

I'm Not Interested In Being Commodified. I'm Not Into Being Sold. I'm Not A Slave.

I'm A Method Actor As Well As A Method Singer.

There Are A Lot Of Difficulties With People Trying To Conceive.

I Love When I Am Around A Veteran In [show] Business. Because I Can Dig And Ask Questions, And Find Out The "who" And "what" Of It All.

I Don't Necessarily Think Of Myself As A Feminist, But I'm A Whole Person.

God Is Ever Present. He's In Every Breath, In Every Step. He's Here, Always, Always.

I've Always Been A Firm Believer That Soul Music Never Dies. The Artists We Still Listen To Today, Years After Their Music Was First Heard Are Mostly Soul Artists; Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan. We Still Sing Along To All Of Them With Our Hearts.

Our Minds Do Understand That People Of All Races Find Genuine Love In Many Places. We Dig That The World Is Full Of Amazing Options.

I Did An Internship At The Ardent Theatre Company In Philly After Dropping Out Of College. I Was Earning $165 A Week Building Sets And Cleaning The Toilets. Cleaning Toilets Is A Good Way Of Getting In Touch With Your Creativity. That's When You Find Out If You Got Anything Going On In Your Head.

Heartbreak Was The Impetus To Me Writing Poems And Music In The First Place.

I'm A World-class People Watcher. I Like To Watch People's Body Movements, Their Expressions. It Says So Much About Them.

When I Auditioned With Anthony Minghella (the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency), I Loved The Audition Process, Although I Hated Him For It. Because He Had Me Audition Six Times For That Role. Maybe Three Hours Each. He Wanted To See How Quickly I Could Vary.

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 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 Panicked When My Son, Jett, Stopped Eating Baby Food. He's Only Two But His Food Vocabulary Is Fantastic. He Likes My Baked Tilapia And String Beans With Chopped Garlic. But He Really Likes Pizza. Sometimes Every Inanimate Object To Him Is Pizza.

Being On Set Is A Hard Thing. A Lot Of People Are Like, Oh, You Get To Make A Movie, And It's All Fun. But The Reality Is, It's A Lot Of Hours. It's A Lot Of Reshoots; It's A Lot Of Waiting. And You Can Become Increasingly Agitated By The Amount Of Time That You Are Waiting. But That's Real.

I Am A Huge Prince Fan. It's A Very Rare Thing For Him To Have People Open For Him. It's Been The Time And Sheila E., And That's About It. Building A Relationship With Him Has Been Like A Dream Come True. I've Been Looking For A Mentor, And I Feel Like I Have That In Him.

I'm A Secret Interior Decorator. There's A Mural On My Dining Room Wall Of The Railroad Tracks At 30th Street Station In Philadelphia. I Love Having My Hometown With Me Out Here In California.

I Don't Rhyme Right Now, But I May Ten Years From Now.

The Best Gift I Was Ever Given Was The Arts. My Mum Gave Me Those On A Silver Platter. Growing Up, Her And My Grandmother Would Take Me To Ballets, Classical Concerts, Even Smoky Jazz Clubs I Wasn't Supposed To Be In!

When I Sing, I Have To Live In That Moment, So My Audience Can Feel That. That Is My Reason For Doing Art.

Ain't Nothing Coming Easily In This Life. Sometimes You Gotta Work, You Gotta Grow And It Gotta Hurt.

My Son, Jett, Is Two, And When I Was Pregnant My Nose Got Bigger, So I Got A New One. Everything Was Bigger For A While After Having Jet, But I Knew I Needed To Be Able To Walk Up My Stairs Without Being Winded. It Took Me Two Years To Lose 60 Lbs - Lots Of Walking, Bike-riding, Kick-boxing And Performing.

The Highs, The Lows, The Peaks, The Valleys, Whatever, It's All Going To Go Into The Art, Whether I'm Singing Or Acting Or Whatever.

I Like To Read Octavia E. Butler's 'wild Seed' Over And Over Again. And J. California Cooper's 'the Wake Of The Wind.' That One Makes Me Cry From Joy. I'll Mourn - I'll Actually Mourn - And Then I'll Cry From Joy. She's Wonderful.

My Only Job Is To Be Happy. So For Everybody That Cares About Me And Is Not Trying To Be All Up In A Celebrity's Business, Just Know That I'm Happy. My Son Is Happy. We Enjoy Our Lives.

Soul Music Is About Longevity And Reaching And Touching People On A Human Level - And That's Never Going To Get Lost.

I Get Scripts All The Time, But I Read This [baggage Claim] Thoroughly, And I Loved It. It Was Light Hearted, Cute, Sweet, And Funny. I Told My Agent That I Liked The Script, But I Did Let My Acceptance Of The Role Slide A Little, Until I Was Watching Television One Day; Scrolling Through The Stations, And There Was This Play. And I Don't Like Plays Made For The Screen. But, This One, "suddenly Single", Caught My Attention.

When I Was 12, I Wrote A List Of Things To Do Before I Died. Own A Picasso Was One Of Those Things.

Lately I've Been Going To All These High Schools Talking To The Students, Answering Their Questions, Listening To What They Have To Say. It Has Been An Incredible Journey To Be Around Them And Try To Give Them What My Mother Gave Me.

When I Was Growing Up, My Mother Would Take Me To Plays And Museums, And We'd Talk About Life. Those Times Helped Shape Who I Became.

People Is, I Think, It's Their Nature - Some People's Nature, In A Way, To Be Angry Or Jealous Or Just Spiteful About Somebody Else's Blessings.

African People Worldwide Are Known To Be Welcoming And Open-minded.

I Was Backstage At The House Of Blues In L.a Where I Was About To Perform, And Stevie Wonder And Prince Turned Up At My Dressing Room Together! Stevie Started Beat Boxing And Prince Started Singing One Of My Songs, All Of A Sudden It Was Like I Was In A Cypher With These Incredible Artists.

I Need To Find Creative Diversity Because If I Get Stuck, I Get Unhappy.

I Have Been Training Since 8th Grade, But It Has To Do With Listening, More Than Practice.

To Be A Queen Of A Household Is A Powerful Thing.

Everybody's Looking For Love, And You Want To Love Somebody And Be Loved In Return.

Looking For Love

If I Feel Really Ugly Or Unhappy, Sometimes I'll Choose Bright Colors So They'll Make Me Feel Good. Yellows, Pinks, Light Blues And Orange. I Just Want To Feel Good All The Time If I Can. And Colors And Hairstyles And All That Kind Of Helps Out.

I'm A Girl Who Enjoys A Great Meal With Great Friends, So I'm Not Really That Concerned About Weight Loss.

I Am Making An Effort To Truly Live. I Don't Mean To Imply By That That I Haven't Been Alive Before But, With My Son Being Here And Such A Powerful Force In My Life, He's Given Me A Freedom To Be More. I Think That Sometimes We Can Get Stuck, And Just The Fact That He's Here Says So Much To Me About My Own Existence. I Didn't Think I'd Be Able To Have Children, And This Level Of Blessing Is Something I Can't Even Put My Finger On.

I Just Think Fashion Is About Enjoying Yourself And Being Comfortable In Your Skin And Allowing You To Be You - All The Way Live.

Balancing Is Hard. I've Lost Roles That I Really Wanted Because I Had Set Up A Tour. I Cancelled Tours To Do Roles Before. But I Have To Find The Time To Make That Up To My Audience. I Made A Commitment To Them.

My Intention Is To Make Music That You Can Enjoy At All Times.

I Was Reading Poetry To My Girlfriends, And They Were Like, You're Really Good. You Should Go To Some Poetry Readings Or Something. And I Eventually Went And Got A, You Know, Somewhat Of A Name For Myself And A Little Bit Of A Following.

I Like A Man Who Smells Good. Puts On Cologne; Lotions His Body. It Keeps Me Wanting. I Like Feeling That Way.

I Never Expected The White House To Be Warm, And The Artwork On The Walls Was Extraordinary. I Am A Fan Of The Louvre, But Being There It Was Almost Just As Good.

I'm Being All Of Me, And It Feels Stupendous. I Don't Want To Leave This Feeling.

I'm The Girl That Waits For The Director To Say, 'i Like That,' Or 'can You Boost It Up?,' Or 'can You Pull It Down?' I'm That Kind Of Actor. I Started In Theater, So That's The Feedback That I'm Accustomed To. It's The Feedback That I Really Thrive Off Of.

My Earliest Influence Was Quincy Jones. I Thought 'the Wiz' Soundtrack Was The Most Amazing Thing I'd Ever Heard. It Was My First Record And You Had Michael Jackson, Ted Ross, Nipsey Russell And Diana Ross On It. I Even Took It To Show And Tell In Third Grade!

I Truly Loved Being Pregnant And Feeling What Was Going On Inside My Body And Watching It Change. It's Difficult To Recoup, But Still Amazing Nonetheless. I Would Have Another One.

It's Frustrating Me - That Booty Is Gonna Sag At Some Point. And If You Allow Enough People To Come Inside Your Physical Space, They Leave Traces.

Mos Def Is One Of The Most Creative, Intelligent Human Beings I've Had The Opportunity To Work With. He Is Fun. The Entire Time, He Would Go In And Out Of Different Characters, Just For The Fun Of It. Awesome Energy.

You Owe It To Yourself To Live Beautifully. And I Am.

Find New Treasures In Yourself. Love Doesn't Die. Love Is Unyielding. It's Going To Come Back. The More You Love And Appreciate Yourself, The More Prepared You Are When The Real Thing Shows Up.

One Of The Reasons My Ex-husband And I Broke Up Is That He Stopped Eating My Food.

Just Because You Have A Nightmare Doesn't Mean You Stop Dreaming.

I Think Human Beings Will Always Still Really Enjoy Using Our Imaginations, And Fringe Allows You To Do That. It's Slightly Scary And Believable. There Just Might Be An Alternate Universe. There Just Might Be People On The Other Side That Are Like Us, Living A Different Life.

I Just Think It's Silly To Be Stingy With Compliments. If You See Someone And They Strike You As Beautiful In Any Way, Why Not Let Them Know?

I Didn't Leave Home Until 27. I Was An Only Child Raised In Philadelphia By My Mother And Grandmother. My Grandmother Controlled The Stove. She Made A Lot Of Potato Meals - Mashed Potato, Potato Souffle, Potato Pancakes. When We Didn't Have Electricity We Ate Romantically, By Candlelight.

I Do Want Love. Genuine Love.

I Don't Write On Demand - I Wait For Inspiration To Come.

I've Been Enjoying Playing With Fashion - Gold Grills And Diamond Grills Have Just Become A Part Of That.

Anytime You Share Life Stories With Other People, You Know, You Are Acknowledging Their Humanity And Kind Of Accessing Some Things About Yourself, And Other People Start To Expect Things About Themselves. It's Kind Of Like A Fellowship.

Everything Starts With Writing. I Heard Nikki Giovanni And Was Blown Away. I Just Thought 'wow'; She Was Writing From A Black Girl's Perspective, And The Imagery Was So Vivid That I Started Doing Spoken Word.

'true Blood' Excites Me. It Scares Me, But It Excites Me.

There Are Repercussions To Everything, Even Advancement And Success. And I Think That The Repercussions To My Success Was The Loss Of My Marriage.

Common Is One Of The Nicest People I've Ever Met, And To Describe Him As A Vile Rapper Because He Has An Opinion... Just Says A Lot About The State Of America. You Are Allowed To Have An Opinion In The United States - He's Never Harmed Anybody, He Just Has An Opinion About A President That Wasn't Good For Our Country.

I Was Once Making A Burger For Myself At My Boyfriend's House And A Lyric Started Pouring Out And I Had To Catch It, So I Ran To Another Room To Write It Down, But Then The Kitchen Caught Fire. His Cabinets Were Charred, And He Was Furious. But It Was Worth It For A Song.

When I First Became Famous, I Didn't Know If I Could Go Where I Wanted To Because I Didn't Know How People Were Going To Act. Some Folks Would Scream And Holler, And I Didn't Know What To Do With That.

Saturday Night Live Is A Show That I Think I Could Have A Lot Of Fun On, Just Being Different Characters And Maybe Singing, Too.

Sometimes I Felt As A Writer I Was Purging, And It Almost Hurt To Purge To That Level. Now It Doesn't Feel That Way, Maybe Because I'm Older. Maybe Life Has Given Me Some Punches, But It Didn't Knock Me Down.

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.

For Me, Hair Is An Accoutrement. Hair Is Jewelry. It's An Accessory.

In Philadelphia, You Are Welcome, And That's The City Of Brotherly Love. I Think That Makes Us Culturally Thick And Sound, So You Can Experience All Kinds Of Cultural Authenticity.

All I Have To Do Is Be Me On Stage. But Acting, I Have To Be Someone Else, And Walk How They Would Walk And Blink How They Would Blink. I Used To Talk About It Bad Like, 'aw Man, That Person Made $10 Million A Movie?' But Now I Understand Why They Do. I Get It Now.

Seriously, In America There Are More Big, Curvy Girls Than There Are Little Girls, And Men Love Us, Too.

I Chose No. 1 Ladies' Detective, Or I'll Say It Chose Me, And It Was An Absolute Blessing, For The Experience Of Being In Africa For Seven Months And Learning So Many Different Things, From Languages To Foods To Greetings. On So Many Levels, It Was An Incredible Experience.

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.

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.

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.

A Lot Of The Girls I Grew Up With Were Pregnant By The Time They Were 16. I Just Was Lucky.

People Think That Lemon Is Good For The Voice, But It Dries It Out.

Music Shouldn't Be A Chore Or Feel Like Any Kind Of Burden.

Africa Doesn't Leap On You Immediately; It Seeps Slowly, And It's Incredibly Important To Be Respectful And Humble There.

I'd Been Told That When You First Put Your Feet On African Ground, You'll Be Hit By A Feeling Of Overwhelming Understanding, Like You've Returned Home And Suddenly Belong. Quite Frankly, I Didn't Feel That.

In Order To Grow Emotionally And Mentally, Sometimes You Have To Grow Physically As Well. I'm Just Trying To Grow, Man, And Always I Just Want To Be The Best And Most Confident Me I Can Be.

If A Woman Is Happy, Then Your Society Is Happy.

One Day, I Just Got Up To Read A Poem And Started Singing. I Looked Around - The Reaction Was Great. And I Said, Oh, Boy. I Like This.

Beauty Is An Understanding Of What You Have, And It's Forgiving Yourself Of What You Don't Have, And Appreciating All Of It.

Every Community Needs A Rec Center.

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.

My Grandmother Told Me: 'never Be In Debt To Anyone Or Anything.' Which Is Probably Why I've Never Been Financially Extravagant - I Still Go To Costco. I'm Always Conscious Of Living Within My Means.

Whatever Happens In My Life, Whether I Stand Up Or I Fall Down, Whatever The Case, I'm Going To Use It In My Art. Why? Because I'm An Artist And I Have To.

The Video For 'whatever' Is Kind Of A Documentary In A Way. It's Showing That Love Can Last. Not Just In Your Early 20s Or Your Late 30s, But In Your 50s, 60s And 70s. There's An Awful Myth Out There That When You Get Married, Love And Lovemaking Fade. It's Not True.

When I Get Onstage, I Automatically Feel Beautiful.

Feeling Beautiful

Heartbreak Was The Impetus To Me Writing Poems And Music In The First Place. Over The Years, I Had My Heart Broken So Badly That If I Didn't Find A Way To Get All The Pain Out, I Was Going To Lose My Mind. I Was Crazy! Like, Wanting To Slash Tires And Smash Car Windows. Crazy! I Was So Hurt That I Had To Write.

We All Get Angry And Jealous Sometimes, None Of Us Is Perfect, But We Should Not Try To Be Different.

There's A Certain Level Of Realness In Philly. You Know, Just - People Are People. You Know, It Doesn't Matter Who You Are Or Who You Think You Are, You're Just A Person In Philly.

I Do So Play An Instrument! I Play Air! I Play The Air With My Fingers, And I'm In Touch With The Deepest Emotions Within. It Took Me A While To Learn That Whatever I Feel Like Doing Is The Right Thing. If I Want To Play An Invisible Instrument, I Will.

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 Think All Any Artist Or Person Wants To Do Is Grow Spiritually, Emotionally, Professionally And Mentally.

Most Of The Time, Particularly With This Record, 'the Light Of The Sun,' I Really Just Been Standing In Front Of A Microphone And Blacking Out Musically, You Know. I'd Come Back A Couple Hours Later And There's Six Songs From Beginning To End, You Know? I Don't Know What I'm Going To Say. I Don't Know How I'm Going To Say It.

I Don't Want To Force Anything On Anyone. I'm Not Trying To Bust You Over The Head And Make You Buy This Record Or This Song Or Whatever. I'm Presenting It To You So You Can Take It In. You Know, It's Like Trying To Force A Kid To Eat Broccoli. If I Present It As Trees That Make Your Muscles Grow, My Son Is Like, 'i'm Down With Getting Muscles.'

A Nutritionist Has Told Me To Have Very Little Butter And Very Little Spices, But I Can't Live Like That.

I've Been Around The World And I've Had Bras Made In Different Places, And Each Time I'm Experiencing The Same Troubles: The Painful Shoulders, The Underwire Cutting Into My Flesh.

There Are Black Marriages That Are Still Going Strong 40 Years Later. You Hear So Many Myths That There Aren't Any People Making It, But There Are. As Long As There Are Some, There's Hope.

As Slavery Died For The Greater Good Of America, And The Movement For Equality Sputtered To Life, The White Woman Was On The Cover Of Every American Magazine. She Was The Dazzling Jewel On Every Movie Screen, The Glory Of Every Commercial And Television Show.

I'm Looking For Someone Who Works As Hard As I Do. Who Loves Their Work As Much As I Do, So At The End Of The Night We Have Something Real To Talk About, Something Exciting That Makes Our Blood Flow And Boil.

For Anyone Who Feels They Are Overwhelmed By Their Job, Or Maybe They Take Their Job Too Seriously Or Are Working Too Hard, I Say Go To A Safari, Particularly The Okavango Delta, And Just Be Humbled.

A Woman Is More Than The Sum Of Her Parts. So I Had An Opportunity To Present Some Work At The White House. I Chose Not Just To Talk About The Sky, The Planet, Love Or Heartache. I Wanted To Actually Be There, To Place A Mark On That Moment.

There's A High School In Camden, New Jersey, I Call The Jill Scott School. It's The Camden Creative Arts High School. Those Teachers And Kids Are So Passionate About What They Do, And 98 Percent Of The Senior Class Went On To College.

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.'

People Say That They Like The Characters That They Believe That I Am. But, I Don't As Much. I Like The Characters That I Believe That I Am Not. Like My Role On 'law And Order.' That Character Unnerved People. And I Loved Every Second Of It. I Want To Continue Growing As An Actress. There Are Ways That I Can Reach Quicker, Or Deeper, With Acting.

Singing And Acting Suit Me. I Made A Vow To Myself, To Do Everything That I Can Do With This Life That I Have, And I Have To Find The Time To Do This. Sometimes I Need To Be An Actress. Sometimes I Don't Need To Be Jill.

It Excites Me When A Person Puts Their Whole Self In A Song Or Rhyme, Or Instrument. It Fills Me.

For My Writing, And Because I Love Talking To Young Women About Life, I Often Asked Them Which Would They Rather Have - A Father In The House With Them While Growing Up Or A Big Butt? I Tell You 86 Percent Of The Time, Girls Say A Big Butt Because It Gets Them Further.

I've Been Reading Poetry Publicly For 20 Years, And This Is What You Do - You Express, You Sometimes Dig A Bit To Get A Conversation Started. That's The Point Of Poetry. You're Supposed To Go, 'hmmmm,' And 'woooh!'

I Could Hear Music Playing In The Background Of Works By Certain Authors, Like Poe And Shakespeare. And I Discovered Nikki Giovanni When I Was In Eighth Grade. Her Writing Has A Musical Energy With Pulse And Rhythm, Almost Like Jazz Or Hip-hop.

I'd Love To Work With Missy Elliott. I'd Love To Work With Bonnie Raitt. I'd Love, Love, Love To Work With Barbra Streisand. I'm Reaching, Because Why Not? You Don't Know What's Going To Happen In This Life.

Nikki Giovanni! I Got A Book Of Hers From The Library, And There Was This Woman Who Could Paint Me On Paper With Words - My Whole Little Experience. I Thought It Was Wonderful.

My Stepfather Was A Very Nasty Individual.

I'm Going To Be A Strict Mum. I Know That Love Is The Most Important Thing - You've Got To Have Lots Of Kisses And Cuddles - But You Also Need To Mix It With Discipline Or You'll Be In A Heap Of Trouble.

Don't Stop Dreaming Just Because You Had A Nightmare.

'fringe' Is One Of My Favorite Television Shows, From Its Inception. I Absolutely Love All Of The Science Fiction Of It, The Mystery Of It, And The Science In It.

I Was Conceived After Doctors Told My Mother She'd Never Have Children. I'm A Miracle - We All Are.

I Like To Be In The Now, Now. Sometimes Musicians Have To Wait For Me To Be Genuine With It. As An Actor, I Don't Have That Luxury. You Have To Make It Legit When They Say 'action.'

I Think Every Individual Has His Or Her Own Power, And It's A Matter Of Working, Taking Time And Defining What That Power Is.

I Need My Man To Be My Homie.

When I Got My Success I Became Decadent For A While. This Was 2003 To 2008. I Fell For Tiramisu Really Hard. I've Become More Moderate Since, Because African-americans Are Prone To Diabetes.

African American

I Defy Any Woman Who Is Pregnant And Trying To Concentrate Really Hard Not To Feel Distracted.

I Think What Irks Me Is That I Feel Like Women Are Really Being Compartmentalized Physically, And It's Been Done So Much That Now We're Doing It To Ourselves. I Don't Like It.

One Of The Things I Love About Africa Is The Amount Of Dignity And Respect And Humility You See All The Time. You Don't Realise How Often You're Disrespected Until You Are Surrounded By Respect.

Nothing Has Gotten Me Out Of Philadelphia. I Moved 20 Minutes Away From Philly. That's About It.

All Man-made Religions Are Limited. I Go My Own Way.

I See Myself Being A Great-grandmother At My Great-grandson's Graduation From A School That Has My Name On It.

What I See Is Trying To Make Sure That Everybody Thinks You Have More Than What You Actually Have. What’s The Point If You Actually Don’t Have It? If You Don’t Have It, Then You Don’t Have It. Have What You Have. Enjoy That . . . The Craft Is Everything. Don’t Be Afraid Of Not Being The Wealthiest Person In The Room. Be The Smartest Person In The Room. Be The Slickest Person In The Room. Be The Most Creative Person In The Room. Be The Most Entertaining Person In The Room. Just Be In The Room.

I'm Looking At The Head Of The Household, And The House Hasn't Been Run Properly For A Long Time, ... Clinton Was The First Person Ever To Make A Formal Apology To Black People For Slavery, Which Was Very Warm And Appreciated. But African-americans Haven't Healed At All . The Wound Is Still Very Open. And Seeing The Differences In How People Live, It Just Puts Salt In It- Constantly . Seeing The Way We're Treated Within These United States ... It Burns You Even More Every Day.

When You Have A Cast And Crew Of People Who Make It Light Hearted And Crack Jokes, And Break Treats, And Understand That We Are All In This Together. That's A Biggest Plus That You Can Have.

All You Ever Really Want Is A Great Character And Great Writing. As An Actor, That's The Juiciest Sandwich You Could Ever Ask For.

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