Being an American is a state of mind, and to be in a family is to feel the power of belonging, the power of your roots. Family is a tree, the strength of a tree, the roots, the leaves, the past and the present, the future, the fruits, the seeds.

Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.

Fruits doesn't fall far from the tree but there seeds can go places
and wherever they go
by their virtues
they leave their traces

We understand 'Roots,' and that experience was mind-boggling, and it changed the way society viewed race relations. It was incredibly important. With 'Roots,' I was just as proud as anybody else that people of color were getting their stories told.

You know why past and future are more attractive to the mind and not the present? There is no edit button for the present. There is nothing the mind can do about the present while it can be really creative about the past and future...

We live in the present with knowledge that the past is alive in us – our history speaks to us. The future represents an idea or expectations that influence our present state of mind.