"It's hard for women at my age in Hollywood, but I'm not discouraged."

"The reality is sobering: in the United States one in three girls will become pregnant before age 20, totaling more than 750,000 girls per year."

"If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them."

"My childhood was influenced by the roles my father played in his movies. Whether Abraham Lincoln or Tom Joad in the 'Grapes of Wrath,' his characters communicated certain values which I try to carry with me to this day."

"I know I'm talented, but I wasn't put here to sing. I was put here to be a wife and a mom and look after my family. I love what I do, but it's not where it begins and ends."

"The dream was not to put one black family in the White House, the dream was to make everything equal in everybody's house."

"I have a great advantage over many of my colleagues inasmuch as my students bring with them to class their own personal knowledge of national, regional, religious, ethnic, occupational, and family folklore traditions."

"We expect teachers to handle teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and the failings of the family. Then we expect them to educate our children."