Obama, he wouldn't have been in office without what happened to me and a lot of black people before me. He would never have been in that situation, no doubt in my mind. He would get there eventually, but it would have been a lot longer. So I am glad for what I went through. It opened the doors for a lot of people.

I saw my hometown burning that day.

I don't see how you can grow as a world without being able to get along with people. So many people is hating out there and it's not making a difference.

We wouldn't be as far along as a country if we didn't take on some of Martin Luther King's ways that he instilled in us.

I know and value what it means to wake up and be alive and to share my story. I'm so blessed to be here and to be able to talk about it.

Over the years, a lot of rappers - Lil' Wayne, Ice Cube - have used my name in their songs. I'm a real touchstone of history.

I sometimes feel like I'm caught in a vise. Some people feel like I'm some kind of hero. Others hate me.