The black woman had had to struggle against being a person of great strength.

There is no contradiction between effective law enforcement and respect for civil and human rights.

If the times aren't ripe, you have to ripen the times.

We've got to work to save our children and do it with full respect for the fact that if we do not, no one else is going to do it.

I am the product of many whose lives have touched mine, from the famous, distinguished, and powerful to the little known and the poor.

If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.

I think of my life as a unity of circles. Some are concentric, others overlap, but they all connect in some way. Sometimes the connections don't happen for years. But when they do, I marvel. As in a shimmering kaleidoscope, familiar patterns keep unfolding