Sometimes survival seems like submitting. And that's really hard on the spirit.

Some of my job consists of me drafting and making technical drawings. So everything I did back then has materialized into something substantial for me today. Whatever kids are into, that might be their thing.

Whatever kids are into, that might be their thing.

Regardless of the project, whenever you're working on something, the best you can hope for is to be around good people.

They don't really focus on that history here in America. I remember growing up as a kid, history class was very washed-over. They didn't really get into the gritty bits of slavery. It's a very, very small section in the history books. It's not something they really touch on directly with American curriculums.

I remember my mom had a conversation with Sam Jackson about what she should do with our careers and what the next step should be; I was eight and my brother was nine. He said, "You need to get them on Broadway."

My mom experienced racism. She was harassed by the KKK several times. And I experienced racism myself, growing up. In New Jersey, we had trash thrown on our lawn every day. And we had the lines to our Christmas lights cut three years in a row. We just stopped putting up Christmas lights after that. That's probably why I still don't put up any lights during the holidays.