Jesse Williams Quotes

I already had three strikes against me. One, I have light skin. Two, I'm from Miami, which wasn't getting looked at at the time. Three, I'm Cuban. But now, I've made everything that stacked against me into a virtue.

The older I grow the more I see the influence of my family on my life. I didn't always see it. It was up to our parents to see that we had our education in a town that hadn't yet realized what racial prejudice was but actually knew and practiced it on occasion.

My mother was told she couldn't go to medical school because she was a woman and a Jew. So she became a teacher in the New York City public school system.

Coming from an African background, obviously the foundation of the family home is education, probably because my parents had to work a lot harder for everything that they've got in this country.

I would even say that my parents, and their friends in our community, thought of education as a kind of armor against racism.

I get asked that a lot and I always go back to my mom's, 'No one has the right to beat you.' I take that to every venue that I'm in. She would say, 'Someone has to be the best in the world, why not you?' I always try to keep that in mind.

You are always bigger than the problem, the problem can never be bigger than you.

On paper, I refuse to position myself as a victim and say, 'Oh, see, this is hard for me, and I'm never going to get any work because they're never gonna look for a half-French, half-Cambodian girl.' I've always said, 'Carry on and work on your job, and at some point, it'll come.'

My family, my background... it just parallels really nicely with a lot of social and cultural movements.

My favorite song on the album is 'Paper Doll' because I think it's a message that a lot of people need to hear, and it's about something that a lot of people struggle with. But I don't victimize myself in the song and I don't allow the person who's trying to intimidate me get to me.

I believe that you should not be just raised on what the music is right then. You should be raised on what is from your past, what your parents have grown up with, because it's a really big piece of your culture that you need to know about, and I'm glad my mother has done that for me.

Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household, I never imagined a world in which I would be represented by someone who looked like me.

I have always had a desire to prove people that looked past me wrong, whether it was because I was a female trying to wrestle or fight in MMA or because I grew up on the wrong side of town.

I've had my fair share of incidents with law enforcement, whether they're saying smart remarks, condescending remarks to downplay who I am and what I can afford... It's something that made me stronger on the back end of it, and learned from those instances.

One day, when I have my own kids, I'll tell them that, even when their life is not easy, they can still do anything they want. That is the way to approach things.

You are bigger than your circumstances.

What is being black? It's making the most of your life, not taking a single moment for granted. Taking something that's seen as a struggle and making it work for you, or you'll die inside. Not to say that my struggle is like the collective struggle of black America. But maybe my struggle is similar to one black dude's.

You are not the product of your circumstances. You are a composite of all the things you believe, and all the places you believe you can go. Your past does not define you. You can step out of your history and create a new day for yourself. Even if the entire culture is saying, "You can't." Even if every single possible bad thing that can happen to you does. You can keep going forward.

I remember reading a book called, "From Niggas To Gods, Part One" by Andre Akil; the book was so easy to read, it was in capital letters with exclamation marks because Akil was screaming at us. It was about getting out of the mindset that this system has put you in. This mindset that makes you feel like your circumstances are permanent and wherever you're born is where you're going to end up. You have to realize who you are.

Although there may be tragedy in your life, there’s always a possibility to triumph. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always.

My father was a slave and my people died to build this country and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you.

I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life. There is only one way to go in life and that is forward.

The day it all changed. The day I stated never to take anything for granted. The day I learned to take charge of my life. It was the day I was diagnosed with cancer.

At first I was afraid, I was petrified, kept thinking I could never live without you by my side. But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong.