I don’t sound like other people. My voice isn’t as loud and can’t do certain things athletically. Jamila Woods Read Quote
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. Jamila Woods Read Quote
Part of our pedagogy is, you report on what’s going on in your neighborhood and your city. Jamila Woods Read Quote
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. Jamila Woods Read Quote
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. Jamila Woods Read Quote
In church, the music is for everyone. People are singing off tune, loud; they’re not ashamed – it’s for their healing. That’s kind of just what I strive for, that feeling. Jamila Woods Read Quote
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. Jamila Woods Read Quote
I’m creating art that can be healing. Art that can make you feel like you’re not alone, like you’re not an outsider. Art that is useful. Jamila Woods Read Quote
HEAVN’ is about black girlhood, about Chicago, about the people we miss who have gone on to prepare a place for us somewhere else, about the city/world we aspire to live in. I hope this album encourages listeners to love themselves and love each other. Jamila Woods Read Quote
It’s important to me that there’s not just one story told about our city. ‘LSD’ is an ode to Chicago, a song for the complicated love I have for my city. Jamila Woods Read Quote
