The most important experience for learning to be a mother is your own mom's experience.

Domestic abuse happens only in intimate, interdependent, long-term relationships - in other words, in families - the last place we would want or expect to find violence.

Our culture encourages women to nurture men, making it predictable that many experience a seductive empathy for abusive men, as well as the misguided hope that love can obliterate an ugly past.

My husband worked on Wall Street and was an Ivy League graduate as well. In our world, we were the last couple you'd imagine enmeshed in domestic violence.

I would be an actress for the rest of my life just because it's really relaxing. Writing is hard work, and stand-up is so stressful before you get on stage, but acting is a complete ensemble experience.

I loved seeing my mom put her own twist on years-old family recipes and also create new dishes. This made me develop a passion for cooking at a young age and would eventually inspire me to prepare meals and host wonderful family dinners.

I don't like to see projects that are all black or all white. It's how life is. I do like to make sure that I do a nice black family film; that's like keeping my home base. I do other things, but I like to always come back to a positive family film, because of all the negative influences today.

My first day in the police was July 16, 1972. I was the only woman in the IPS. I remember getting a lot of questions. Are you sure you want to do this? Have you thought about your family? Why did you choose to be here? There was a lot of amazement and doubt.