“I believe in my prayers.”

I wanted to use my experience to teach kids that racism has no place in hearts and minds.

I think racism is something that is passed on and taught to our kids, and that’s a shame.

I was the first black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana in 1960.

I believe it doesn’t do yourself any good to hate.

My mother had taught me that the only thing you could depend on was your faith, and I had that.

The greatest lesson I learned that year in Mrs. Henry’s class was the lesson Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to teach us all: Never judge people by the color of their skin. God makes each of us unique in ways that go much deeper.

I want to inspire kids.

That’s really what my work is all about – bringing kids together.

You cannot look at a person and tell whether they’re good or bad.

If you really think about it, if we begin to teach history exactly the way that it happened – good, bad, ugly, no matter what – I believe that we’re going to find that we are closer, more connected than we are apart.

We must absolutely take care of one another.

We have tolerance, respect, and equality in our written laws but not in the hearts of some of our people.

Racism is a form of hate. We pass it on to our young people. When we do that, we are robbing children of their innocence.

Now that I’m a parent, I know that my parents were incredibly brave.

I pray for my enemies, that God would forgive them.

Evil looks like you and I. I know what evil looks like, and I know that it comes in all shades and colors.

I say to people today, ‘You must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.

I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don’t believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn’t want brotherhood with me.

Where could I go but to the Lord?

God doesn’t want something from us. He simply wants us.

Then you came along and helped me believe in myself again.

I believe it is my obligation to tell the story of the civil rights movement to the next generation.

When I was young I felt really overwhelmed and confused by the desire not to end up in an office, doing something I didn’t believe in.

Everyone must believe in something. I believe I’ll have another beer.