My most important title is still “mom-in-chief.

The beatings, the beatings were so normal to me. The abuse was just routine. I didn't wake up the next day and say, 'Dre, why did you hit me?' We never talked about it the next day. Never.

I can't think of any time we had a discussion [with Dre] about the aftermath of what happened the night before. We just had too much going on.

When I say I loved it, I don't mean I loved being hit. I just mean...there was some good in there, too. I am not going to call it all bad.

My most important title is still “mom-in-chief.

In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said. “See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service.

When my mother and my grandmother died three months apart, I knew my world was over.