You make budget cuts based on what you want to accomplish. You have to decide what is our priority going forward as a country. You cannot do it on the backs of any one group of people... There has to be some balance.

The fact that our country, the greatest country in the world, remains mired in race relations issues in the year 2014 is an embarrassment.

We respect our elders. There is wisdom that comes from experience, and I am not going to stop learning from wise counsel.

A nation cannot be truly great without a moral compass.

It's our moral obligation, as well as, I believe, it is the government's obligation to take care of its people.

The times when black women have been successful in confronting and overcoming the structural and institutional sexism and racism that persists in our society have been when we are thoughtful and strategic about speaking up. It's when we've done what it takes to introduce and implement our ideas and our plans to make things better.