I have gotten into a lot of trouble in my life for being brutally honest. Sometimes I put both my feet in my mouth. But like Elton John, I'm still standing.

I came to this country when I was twelve years old because my parents wanted to give me new opportunities to succeed. President Obama wants everyone to have the chances I had.

We Latin women are liberated from the neck up, not the neck down.

People would write me hate letters. How dare I try to represent Hispanics when I was so white? I tried to make them see it was racism.

The world is not ideal, and the only weapon we can give our children is information. Information which is not pretty, but honest.

People look at you and see that you've made it, but sometimes they forget that it took you years of being a human being.

For me, the American promise isn't just an idea or a theory - it's my life story.