I wanted to be a theater actress, and initially, I wanted to work in musical theater

The data is going to indicate sadly that when the Obama administration is over, black people will have lost ground in every single leading economic indicator category.

The choices we make about the lives we live determine the kinds of legacies we leave.

Don't envy someone else's gift. Discover your own.

The storm came. Lives were washed away. Ancient pains resurfaced. Now it is time for a sea of change.

Sometimes rejection in life is really redirection.

I believe if we make black America better, we make all of America better.

We need to elect leaders who understand that leadership is about loving and serving people, not about self-advancement.

Regardless of your race, religion or political affiliation, never hesitate to question those in authority.

Poverty and wealth inequality are a form of instability into the future.

Capitalism is like a child: if you want the child to grow up free and productive, somebody's got to look over the shoulder of that child.

We are one in spirit of faith of love.

When you invest your life, you don’t lose it.

The way to get the mind of God, is seek to know the heart of God!

Where questions of style and exposition are concerned I try to follow a simple maxim: if you can't say it clearly you don't understand it yourself.

Do not suffer a sudden impression to overbear your judgment.

I paint what I think, not what I see.

Certainly in terms of my life - anybody's life - you go through death, childbirth and marriage, glory and defeat, and so on.

The average development time for a Hollywood movie is nine years. Nine years for a studio film. And a lot of what you do is abstract.

I'll bring in outsiders to evaluate state agencies. They can sometimes see what we can't.

A great man knows the value of greatness; he dares not hazard it, he will not squander it.