"I don't like needing anybody for anything."

"I never backed down from a challenge."

"We are a nation of minorities. We are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of people who have come from all over the world."

"I don't think there's a person in this country who could look at a black boy and a white boy and say that one is going to be more successful than the other. I'd be willing to bet on the black boy."

"I had to fight hard against loneliness, abuse, and the knowledge that any mistakes I made would be magnified because I was the only black man out there."