For me, success is when I'm making a contribution and fully engaging all of my talents. In terms of the key quality, it's being willing to continue to believe in yourself even when other people don't, and being able to fail and to come back.
Melissa Harris-PerryAs we watch Republican candidates like Scott Walker and Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal and George Pataki, and even Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, guys who are either out or who are really struggling to stay in, it might seem like the Republican Party is no longer a very strong party. There may be people who use the Republican label, but the party itself might feel like it`s in a bit of disarray.
Melissa Harris-PerryI think the idea that you're somehow rejecting whiteness if you don't identify yourself as biracial is odd because everybody engages in whiteness. If you live in America, you're doing whiteness all the time, even if you have no white people in your family.
Melissa Harris-PerryI can understand how someone might read wearing a blonde wig as a desire to be white, but I suspect that the same shaming smirk can happen if you wear a big afro or any number of other hairstyles.
Melissa Harris-PerryWe were looking for the Rick Perries, the Scott Walkers, the Bobby Jindals, all to probably still be on the stage.They`re all gone and [Donald] Trump has sucked the oxygen out of race and made it a national race courtesy a little bit of NBC making him a celebrity, second of all, just his personality.
Melissa Harris-Perry