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

Every day I wear my Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth medallions around my neck. When I think I'm having a bad day, I try to think about their day, and I get up.

Investing in [children] is not a national luxury or a national choice. It's a national necessity. If the foundation of your house is crumbling, you don't say you can't afford to fix it while you're building astronomically expensive fences to protect it from outside enemies. The issue is not are we going to pay - it's are we going to pay now, up front, or are we going to pay a whole lot more later on.

Why are guns the only unregulated consumer products in America? We regulate toy guns and teddy bears, but we do not regulate a product that kills 4,600 children a year.

People want to pick the leader, and we are obsessed with celebrity and whoever is on the cover of this or that.

Family and moral values are so central to everything that I am.

You'd better stay determined, because that's how our ancestors got us where we are.