It's great to be able to employ people who other people wouldn't consider viable employees.

I was taught from a young age that many people would treat me as a second-class citizen because I was African-American and because I was female.

Racism is ignorant. And it's stupid. And it's old. And it's played out. So beat it already with that, you know what I mean? 'Let's all get along' - I'm so tired of that damn sentence, but it's true.

It's not always easy to do the right thing. But, doing the right thing makes you strong, it builds character.

Hip-hop definitely taught me a lot. Having to create your own identity and become known and respected in a male-dominated field - it requires some guts. There are times you have to be strong, and times when you have to stand alone for what you believe in.

I enjoy just being me. I don't need to be Queen Latifah, the brand, 24 hours a day.

God has always been in my life and his little voice in me that lets me know when I'm falling a little too far left or right, up or down you know. I know because there is a little voice that starts saying, 'damn it, what are you doing? You need to slow down with that' or I might not be a good person to hang around you know... So God will do this to me in some sort of way. Or something bad will happen to me.