One of the things that I have my students do is to take a look at English-language newspapers from all around the world in order to see the different ways in which the same story might be told.

I think we could benefit from world history that is specifically taught in a multi-faceted fashion that allows for an understanding that perspectives on truth can be very different.

My hope is that I can continue writing and, in the future, I can just be Maya Soetoro-Ng.

I'm a teacher, so much of what I'm doing remains in the abstract. But I also support a lot of educational initiatives that support kids to really get out there and work hard in their communities. But I also think that we need poets in our country to inspire.

Government is supposed to lead by example in many cases. Government that's not particularly caring and is hands-off is not particularly inspiring.

Government should exist in order to help fortify the country and make those who are in need better able to meet their own.

Barack himself is very much a regular guy, not a silver spoon, incredibly smart, but, you know, he's a scholarship kid, made good use of the resources that were available to him, worked incredibly hard.

This is not a family of privilege by any stretch of the imagination. Our family is very low key.

Mom was an academic, so the riches that she had to bestow were of the mind.

My brother loves this country deeply. He has laid down roots, and he has always been incredibly patriotic and committed to this country.