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When I was a child, I wanted to be important.

My own sense of family, where I came from and what I made for myself is an important part of my life.

I learned from an early age that my heritage, my love for people, and my desire to be a vehicle that can be used through my voice, that my expressions and actions can transport a person to experience a scene from the past, present and future.

Living in different cultures helped me work out who I was going to be, separate from where I came from.

I think the reason I am important is that I know everything.

From my father, I learned the importance of working sincerely at things to which I had committed myself, and to persevere untiringly even in the face of little progress.

I was blessed with certain gifts and talents and God gave them to me to be the best person I can be and to have a positive impact on other people.

It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.

Granted, everybody is different, but I think it's real important to know all the people that you are around, and how they operate their history, and things like that. You know where they are coming from a little bit, and you don't insult them, or take something for granted.

As I lived on in America, I got to truly know the people of this country - so many kind and wonderful people, people of so many races - who helped me in so many ways. Who became my friends. I realized that underneath our different accents, habits, foods, religions, ways of thinking, we shared a common humanity.