Growing up in New Orleans and just being in a poverty-stricken neighborhood gave me that same fire that Eazy had to separate himself from what could have ended up being such a bad situation.

Growing up in New Orleans helped me live a real life. I experienced so many things.

As crazy as it may sound, it's like my tranquil place, where I sit, and I have my candy for a minute, and I just space out, and it's just me and my candy.

I definitely have a lot of different layers inside of me.

I was looking for a new challenge and got an interest in trying to make a difference for families. You become more aware of how important families are. They are the key institution in our culture. The reason I got into politics was to try to make a difference for that key institution, whether it was tax policy, education policy, or whatever.

Get your education, and if you see small opportunities, take them. Each one could be a stepping stone to something bigger.

The loans I took out for my undergraduate degree were manageable. But my legal education was more expensive, and I paid for it almost entirely through public and private loans.

We've got to create strategies of our own that ensure that our kids are going to get an education they need, that people are getting connected to skills and that we do more to draw investment into the city of Flint.