Friendship is such an important thing to me, and I feel like the people who I love and help keep me whole - I can't imagine a life without them.

The strength of my mother is something I didn't pay attention to for so long. Here she was, this single mom, who was part of the Great Migration, who was part of a Jim Crow south, who said, 'I'm getting my kids out of here. I'm creating opportunities for these young people by any means necessary.'

I feel like, as a person of color, I've always been kind of doing the work against the tide.

Jacqueline Woodson Quotes