I learned there's a tremendous amount of sisterhood among Muslim women, which I thought was really beautiful.

I think you grow through your experiences; you get better as you grow and I'm not nearly where I think I'm going to be eventually where I inspire to be and hopefully the opportunities will continue to come.

To put it in layman's terms, crazy is crazy. And crazy will find a way to do something crazy. Racist is racist. And racist people will find a way to project their racism onto the world.

I think it's a beautiful thing when you wear a uniform or a garb which represents a group of people, because what it immediately symbolizes is oneness, togetherness.

I think that's the most important thing: that we create dialogue.

I'm kind of pinching myself in the morning. Like, wait, you really did pray to have a body of work that stays diversified and interesting. And I have it!

I'm also working on another independent film called Roxanne, Roxanne, about Roxanne Shante, who was one of the first African American battle rappers from Brooklyn. It is produced by Forest Whitaker and Pharrell [williams], so I'm really in great hands.