Businesses have come and gone at Homeboy Industries. We have had starts and stops, but anything worth doing is worth failing at. We started Homeboy Plumbing. That didn't go so well. Who knew? People didn't want gang members in their homes. I just didn't see that coming.

I know now that gang warfare is not the Middle East or Northern Ireland. There is violence in gang violence, but there is no conflict. It is not 'about something.' It is the language of the despondent and traumatized.

My job isn't to fix or rescue or to save. It's to accompany, see people, listen to them.

We are among the handful of countries that has difficulty distinguishing juveniles from adults where crime is concerned. We are convinced that if a child commits an adult crime, that kid is magically transformed into an adult. Consequently, we try juveniles as adults.

I grew up in Brixton as a young teenager playing basketball for the Brixton Topcats, which marked the beginning of my career.

Crashing is part of the sport. It sucks when it happens, but that's the way it is.

I don't think a swimmer on film works unless you're Australian, because for them, swimmers are like their football players, their basketball players; they're huge stars.

One thing that has irritated me in the sport of boxing since I stopped is I'm really surprised that no one has come along to excite me like me.