Michael Franti

"During my travels in Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Europe and all over the United States, I have seen and heard the voices of people who want change. They want the stabilization of the economy, education and healthcare for all, renewable energy and an environmental vision with an eye on generations to come."

"Every single soul is a poem."

"Everybody's opinion is equally valid, and I feel like everybody should have an opportunity to speak out, and everyone should have the courage to speak out."

"I went to Iraq because I wanted to see what one year of occupation had done to Iraqi society, and I went to the West Bank and Gaza Strip because I wanted to see what three generations of occupation had done to Palestinian society. I found a lot more hopelessness and despair in Palestine."

"My greatest sense of accomplishment has come from having two amazing sons, but it's also a paradox in that the times when I felt like the biggest failure have been times when I felt like, as a parent, I wasn't making the right decisions or succeeding in the way that I should."

"My house was filled with music. We had a piano, and my brothers and sisters played instruments. Even though I was around it, I played basketball."

"Power to the peaceful!"

"The music industry has been hijacked by corporate interests, but the way music affects people and resonates with them hasn't changed."

"The world can't have a global solution to climate change with U.S. action alone; and the world can't have a global solution without U.S. action."

"We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace."

"When I first started, my songs were the politics of anger. As I got older and hopefully wiser, I wanted to be part of the politics of answers."