What's fascinated me from the time I was a little kid was the way we construct our lives through stories.

Each individual has a responsibility to get out of bed, learn their ABCs, learn your math tables, not use race and racism as an excuse.

I don't think the riots derailed the civil rights movement.

Without doubt, President [Barack] Obama is a great historical figure.

I think literacy is everything.

I think that the roots of racism have always been economic, and I think people are desperate and scared. And when you're desperate and scared you scapegoat people. It exacerbates latent tendencies toward - well, toward racism or homophobia or anti-Semitism.

My brother and I had a really privileged relationship with my parents... They treated us like adults.