Russell Simmons

"[As a vegan] I feel better, I look better, so it’s a big change for me. You have more clarity and I think that all of us want to be more clear. I wanted to look younger and feel better and wanted to be a greater contributor to the good on the planet […] The more I learned about factory farming… the more I realized that I could not, in good conscience, be a contributor to such violence."

"Well, it started with my yoga practice and you know, the practice of non-harming, ‘ahimsa’. So I became a vegan because [of] compassion [for] the animals. The vegan diet was being discussed around me all the time, so finally, I just made the choice. […] The first thing I did was lose 20 pounds and I haven't put that back on. Do I feel better than I felt 15, 17 years ago? Yeah I think so. I think I'm in pretty good shape."

"especially in the last years where I was really active at the (Nuyorican Poets) Cafe, everyone came in and just wanted to be a star. And I shouldn’t lay blame, but Russell Simmons who came around with the Def Poets and all that. “Come with me. I’ll take you to Broadway! I’ll put you on TV! Everyone will see you on TV!” It kind of polluted the intent of what we were doing. That kind of twisted the mindset, just undermined the real purpose and value of the writing, of the creative act. Because you don’t do it to be on TV. You do it for you, because you have to do it! Initially, that was the intent. We have to have this community! We have to share our voices. Nobody else out here is listening, so we’ll make our community. And that’s what it was about."