Our children are the living messages we send to a future we will ever see... Will we rob them of their destiny? Will we rob them of their dreams? No - we will not do that.

The question is always whether all of Baltimore will rise together or whether we will leave some behind.

Our country is slowly but surely moving - and I've seen it over and over again in many instances in government - toward a culture of mediocrity.

Every time something bad happens to me, I don't ask the question, 'Why did it happen to me?' The question I ask is, 'Why did it happen for me?'

I'm going to try and make people realize that in order to live the life they are living, they need to have democracy, and it's being threatened.

Americans of our own time - minority and majority Americans alike - need the continued guidance that the Voting Rights Act provides. We have come a long way, but more needs to be done.