"My childhood had a great influence in making me very determined to be independent and listen to my own voice. And tha…"

"I literally woke up one morning and said 'I am going to write a book.' I didn't write it from chapter one. I just tri…"

"“There is a special way of seeing come with age and distance, a kind of knowing how things happen even without knowin…"

"“We been writ out of the history of this town. They got a metal marker down to the courthouse tell a crazy twisting o…"

"“Making a better way for the children. In the end, making a better life for our children what we all want.”"

"It isn't as if there were a lot of women, let alone African American women vice presidents," Tademy said. "There was …"

"In my head, I lived on the plantation, and then I lived through the Civil War, and then I lived in Reconstruction and…"

"An author's life is very solitary and that part is sometimes difficult," she said. "I think about how stimulating it …"

"“You can’t tell how heavy somebody else’s load is just from looking. The Lord doesn’t give us more than we can carry.”"

"“There is nothing more satisfying than having plans.”"