There were these great women in Montgomery, [Rosa Louise] Parks was among them. Jo Ann Robinson [who organized the bus boycott] was among them. It's always these ordinary women and men of grace who have been waiting and seething and planning to change things that are unjust that bring movement.

Democracy cannot breathe, indeed will die, if those enjoined to protect it and uphold the laws snuff it out - with no consequences.

What's wrong with our children? Adults telling children to be honest while lying and cheating. Adults telling children to not be violent while marketing and glorifying violence... I believe that adult hypocrisy is the biggest problem children face in America.

There comes a time when you roll up your sleeves and put yourself at the top of your commitment list.

A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.

I need to work outside government, on my own.

The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child; it is whether we can afford not to.