I've always been raised to love everyone, to accept everyone for their differences, and to just be open. But at a young, a very young age, I realized what racism was all about.

You just don't want your child to ever feel like they have less of an opportunity to succeed based on the circumstances in which they were born. I try to be optimistic about everything. There are no victims in my home.

I have been in situations where actors are treated like robots: say the lines, say it like this, we don't have time for conversations. That is a terrible position to be in as an artist. You feel used.

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.

I've seen some great write ups and I emailed her the other night because I saw her on an awards show recently.

I think that if something matters to you, and is important to you, then you give it the attention and energy it deserves. So, I don't look upon it as a price, but as an opportunity to influence the community in a healthy way.

I try to do the same thing when I'm with young actors who are new and unsure. I try to do the same thing for them that I saw Laurence [Fishburne] and Angela [Dasset]do for all of us on Boyz n the Hood.