Quotes from Jamila Woods

My art gets called political, as opposed to my intending it to be political. I think that's something that happens with black artists or marginalized voices trying to speak truth. Because there are things in the status quo to speak out against, speaking out against them will inherently be political.

I'm nearsighted, in part, because I would read past my bedtime in the dark. I didn't want my mom to see that I was still awake.

I read 'Song of Solomon' by Toni Morrison in college, and it just blew my mind.

My artistic manifesto exists in the world as poetry. So even though most of the things that I've done have been on other people's projects or could be pigeonholed in certain ways, that's not how I perceive myself.

I don't create from a place of me making art for art's sake, but wanting my work to actually do stuff... tangible things.

I love how music and chants were used in the Civil Rights movement to help people keep marching. How songs were both a balm and a call to action.

My mentor made me say a poem over and over. 'Stop! That's not your voice. Start again.' I was sobbing by the end, but it drilled into my head that my voice is important.

I started writing poems on a Xanga page. I always loved writing. I also had a Deviant Art page, actually, because my crush had one, too.

I like bringing my poet brain and sensibility to lyrics I write.

With lyrics, being a poet gave me a different approach than other people.

For black and brown people, caring for ourselves and each other is not a neutral act. It is a necessary and radical part of the struggle to create a more just society. Our healing and survival are essential to the fight.

For me, church was about not only religion but about community. A woman in my grandmother's church helped pay for my SAT classes when I was in high school and drove me there every week.

The lake was always my orienting point when my dad was teaching me how to not get lost. The lake is east, so you'll always know that. It's a weird thing where you can kind of feel where you're at in Chicago, and when I was downtown, I was like, 'Oh, it feels more open over here. That must be east.' It felt like a little secret thing.

There is a lot of history buried in Chicago that I still have yet to discover.

I've seen Chance and the Social Experiment build their own careers in the way that's most authentic to them.

A lot of people get Chicago wrong. I've developed this protective feeling about how we're portrayed, and at the same time, I'm acutely aware of the issues we face and the root causes of these issues.

I'm interested in figuring out what freedom songs would sound like in 2016.

When it's a rapper's album or a singer's album, there's a tendency to want a text-based or theme-based narrative.

Music is something that is supposed to connect people on a pure level.

Part of what I like about living in Chicago is it's not easy. The breath of the city, the everyday challenge of it, is good. It forces you to grow and push yourself.

I like to borrow forms and quotes and use a lot of allusions, in both poetry and music.

The good things about Chicago save me on a daily basis, like getting to work with my students, seeing a beautiful part of the city, or seeing the people that I love.

Hairdressers are all-knowing. They're so wise.

They say Chicago is for haters. No one will just sweat each other and say, 'Oh, you're so good,' if you're not. Which is another reason I'm inspired to stay.