Suddenly in high school, I'm in a predominantly Jewish atmosphere. Jewish people were my gate to white America.

Those in the margins are always trying to get to the center, and those at the center, frequently in the name of tradition, are trying to keep the margins at a distance.

Poverty makes it very difficult in an already competitive world for kids to get on a straight track where they can actually love learning.

People in power have to be careful about what comes out of their mouth. They have to find exactly the right word that can't be attacked.

Self-esteem does not come from surrounding yourself with people and things that seem to increase your value. Real self-esteem is an integration of an inner-value with things in the world around you.

What you are will show, ultimately. Start now, every day, becoming, in your actions, your regular actions, what you would like to become in the bigger scheme of things.

I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment.