Bebe Moore Campbell

“African-Americans know about racism, but I don't think we really know the causes. I decided it's first of all a family problem.”

“I had an agent who spent eight years - eight years! - trying to sell my stories. She sold other people's work; she just didn't sell mine.”

“I have to entertain, because if I don't entertain you, you're not going to continue reading. But if I'm not out to enlighten, or change your mind about something, or change your behavior, then I really don't want to take the journey.”

“In all his imaginings, he had never envisioned her crying. He knew that her son had died, but he'd never expected that her pain might be anything he could recognize, almost as though he believed that Negroes had their own special kind of grieving ritual, another language, something other than tears they used to express their sadness.”

“I would get up at 3 in the morning and write. Or sometimes I would write at midnight. Or I would write when my child napped. It wasn't a burden. I was so enthused about what I was doing at the time that I really didn't mind.”

“To me, there's no point in writing merely to entertain.”

“Race, redemption and healing - that's my thing.”