I've always had an involved imagination.

Growing up in Kenya, slum life was not far away. I had family that lived in slums, so I visited them often, and so I've seen and interacted with abject poverty. But I also know that because of that, poverty is not the definition of the people that live there.

Your value is in yourself; the other stuff will come and go.

I grew up watching foreign programs - American, English, Mexican, and very little Kenyan. 'The Color Purple' was the first time I saw people who looked like me.

It's in understanding yourself deeply that you can lend yourself to another person's circumstances and another person's experience.

[My mother] always said I was beautiful and I finally believed her at some point.

European standards of beauty are something that plague the entire world - the idea that darker skin is not beautiful, that light skin is the key to success and love. Africa is no exception.