There are things in our blood that are just naturally passed down to us, whether we want to recognize them or not.

A mother isn’t the person who births you; it’s the person who rears you and shows you love.

Individually, every grain of sand brushing against my hands represents a story, an experience, and a block for me to build upon for the next generation.

Globalization by the way of McDonald’s and KFC has captured the hearts, the minds, and from what I can see through the window, the growing bellies of the folks here.

Hip-hop...has been the proverbial key that's opened the door for me to roam this breathtaking planet.

I wish she'd said something different, but patriarchy is as prevalent around the world as racism and xenophobia are. We can't hide from it, not even here.

Foisting an identity on people rather than allowing them the freedom and space to create their own is shady.

The truth is usually left for us to hunt and gather independently, if we are so inclined.

Are Latino-Americans white? Black? Other? Illegal aliens from Mars? Or are we the very face of America?

I have never bought into the idea that blood is thicker than water. Love and respect are meant to be earned from our children, our spouses, our families, and our friends.

Support and encouragement are found in the most unlikely places.

If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.

Empathy nurtures wisdom. Apathy cultivates ignorance.

A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless.

I've always had a fascination with cars and racing, not that I've ever competed.

Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not.

He believed in dreams, in endings that people told you could never happen, in disappointments reversed and luck that lasted.

I think, what has this day brought me, and what have I given it?

I applied to be an astronaut four times. I was rejected three times before I was accepted. So, it's about that, not - following your dream and not giving up.

To force a human being to learn according to a set curriculum is a dictatorial act.

The fire in the bellies of the good people who work for a more fair and just world for all of us - that spark never fails to inspire me and warm my heart.