My Passion Is To Tell Stories That

I Never Went In Thinking, "you're An African-american Woman, So You're Never Going To Win." I Was Just In Career Doing Beauty Pageants For The Experience, And To Show My Brains And Talent And Help Break Stereotypes. It Wasn't Like, "oh, I'll Become A Star. I'm Beautiful." I Never Thought I Was Pretty. I Couldn't Even Put On Eyelashes Or Makeup. When You Come From An Environment That's Military, And They Don't Stress That Topic Of Aesthetics Or Beauty Pageants And Makeup, There Are A Lot Of Things You Just Don't Have That City Girls Have.

We Have To Have Films About Action And Violence And Special Effects. That's The Sad Part, But You Know What? It's Not Me Doing It.

Me, Sexy? I'm Just Plain Ol' Beans And Rice.

It's The Best Honor When Someone Wants To Use As Their Professional Title The Name Of A Character That You Portrayed.

I Was A Child Of The Women's Movement. Everything I Had Learned Was From My Mother And My Grandmother, Who Both Had A Very Pioneering Spirit. They Had To, Because They Had To Change Flat Tires And Paint The House - Because, You Know, The Men Didn't Come Home From The War Or Whatever Else, So Women Had To Do These Things.