When you are telling your story, hold your own ink pen. Don't let anybody else tell your story.

As an African-American parent, we have to really, really worry about our children and how our children are perceived in America.

I hope to see a more diversified country, where people can view everyone as equal individuals, where people can start seeing our young black and brown boys and girls and valuing their lives as we would value other lives.

I think it's important for people to just stay encouraged, and stay uplifted.

It is a right to have a firearm to protect yourself. But it is not your right to be irresponsible. At the end of the day, it is not the gun that kills you, it is the irresponsible person that does.

You can't just place your faith and your hope in one system, because when that system fails you, what do you do?

I would definitely like to see the education process more enhanced in African-American communities, because we need to be educated on laws that are relevant to our communities and our people, as well as to any other ethnic groups. A broader view of how people perceive African-American boys and girls in this country is what I'd like to see.