Im a child of the Civil Rights Movement.

I've always been able to make choices that don't embarrass me.

The exceptionalism of a black U.S. President is not important to me. It's what he does - and who he has at the table.

Democracy is about criticism.

Mother Earth is in pain and ailing - bglobal warming. The world is dealing with issues of immigration, deindustrialization, and poverty. When I was born, there were 2.5 billion people living on the whole planet. Now there are 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day. That's the kind of reality we have to deal with.

President Obama is a man who had certain advantages because of the civil rights movement. He had the opportunity to go to some of the best schools in this country - schools that train you how to run the political paradigm, not challenge it. The leaders of the Black Power Movement were challenging that paradigm.

It's important for people of color to link up with issues around globalization, food security, health, the environment.