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My parents were missionaries - I was born in the States but I grew up in Brazil.

I was brought up in a Christian home in Australia with a father who was very bold about his faith.

Both of my parents were born into poor families on the island of Cuba. They came to America because it was the only place where people like them could have a chance.

I had siblings from South Asia, from East Asia, from depressed communities around America, and you know, we'd have long conversations.

I'm a first generation American. My mother is Italian and Russian and a lot of other things, and my father is Uruguayan. In fact, my mother's been married twice, and both men were Uruguayan. So I grew up in a very European/Latin American-influenced home.

There is a real sense of family when you're around Australians, even if you don't know them.

America is an archipelago of tribes, a land where people form national families of kindred spirits.

My dad was born in Haiti, and my mom was born in Tunisia. She is the daughter of a white French woman and a black, half-Guadeloupian, half-American man. My mom traveled the world a lot. She went through Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. She just got to experience a lot of different cultures, and that came through my childhood.

My family background was deeply Christian.