My parents were comfortable with me exploring areas that they were not proficient in. Some parents just aren't comfortable with that.

Sciences provide an understanding of a universal experience, Arts are a universal understanding of a personal experience... they are both a part of us and a manifestation of the same thing... the arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity

When I'm asked about the relevance to Black people of what I do, I take that as an affront. It presupposes that Black people have never been involved in exploring the heavens, but this is not so. Ancient African empires - Mali, Songhai, Egypt - had scientists, astronomers. The fact is that space and its resources belong to all of us, not to any one group.

You have the right to be involved. You have something important to contribute, and you have to take the risk to contribute it.

What we find is that if you have a goal that is very, very far out, and you approach it in little steps, you start to get there faster. Your mind opens up to the possibilities.

I always knew I'd go to space.

I wanted to be a professional dancer for a period of time, and I did a lot of dancing and choreography and got paid for it.