In fact, when I first came to the Senate, people laughed. I had people telling me, 'There's no way you're going to get a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill done.'
The fact that Newark is having poetry festivals and peace conferences - all of these things are building an undeniable thesis that our city is making incredible strides forward.
I just know that I'm innovative. I'm a quick thinker... In Washington, I just want to be a senator who finds a way to drive change and not figure out a way to conform.
My whole life has been about confronting cynicism.
We need to create an economy that works for everyone, not crony capitalism and unchecked corporate consolidation.
When we embraced social media, we took more control of the Newark narrative. We increased responsiveness toward residents. We drew more of our constituents in to participate in government and improve our cities.
You were not built for comfort and convenience. You were built to overcome.
I'm a person that's grounded in faith and believe that my core values, motivation, inspiration, draw from a conception of the world in that way.
Patriotism is a love of country. If you love your country, you should love your countrymen and women. It doesn't mean you always agree with them or even like them. It is understanding that we have interwoven destiny.
Our platform is crafted by Democrats but it is not about partisanship, its about pragmatism.
I am happy that the urgency to reform our broken criminal justice system has found allies all across the political spectrum.
The majority of our criminals that we lock up are non-violent offenders.
I think Newark has been in the crosshairs in every generation of the fight to achieve America. And I think Newark is a city that's at that crossroads still.
On a daily basis, I think it's really important to be conscious of gender-based discrimination - which presents in sometimes more, but often less, obvious forms - and do everything possible to defeat that discrimination.
This is our history - from the Transcontinental Railroad to the Hoover Dam, to the dredging of our ports and building of our most historic bridges - our American ancestors prioritized growth and investment in our nation's infrastructure.
I debated between law school and divinity.
Small acts of decency ripple in ways we could never imagine.
I am the descendant of slaves, of people that were born from a slave and a slave master.
Our nation was not founded because we all looked alike, or prayed alike, or descended from the same family tree. But our founders, in their genius, in this, the oldest constitutional democracy, put forth on this earth the idea that all are created equal; that we all have inalienable rights.
America has seen enough of a handful of people growing rich at the cost of our nation descending into economic crisis.
