Mahershala Ali Quotes

For me, Barack Obama's election was a milestone of the most extraordinary kind. On the day he was elected I felt such hope in my heart. I thought we were seeing the beginning of a new era of equal opportunity across race and gender such as America had never known before.

I don't think that a vote for Barack Obama is a symbolic thing. I think it's much more than that. It's not just a black man. It's not just a feel-good vote. It's the idea of electing someone who really does want to make a difference.

I'm still thinking and hoping there's an opportunity for people to have better lives and that significant change can occur.

I'm so, so full of joy that America elected Obama.

I don't really care how or why Obama got to the right place on gay marriage. I'm just glad he got there.

Obama stands as a signal that this nation will continue to redefine what it means to push beyond the borders of what's possible.

Together with President Obama, we are moving America forward, not back.

My daddy thought - no, he expected - that my brothers and I and our generation would make the world a better place. He was correct in his belief because he had lived in an America of continual social progress, depression followed by prosperity, segregation by integration, and so on.

Anyone who thinks they're a progressive should be interested in making progress.

Humans and nations are imperfect, and through our collective efforts, we hope to improve our nation and bring hope and opportunity to millions who lack it.

America is not going to side with the people that think our best days are behind us. It's not going to side with the people that think we pit people against each other, even if they believe at their core - which I think some of these people do - that, you know, ultimately Trump would make things better.

Greatness will come by looking forward - untethered from the politics of the past and anchored by our shared values - and by changing our nation's future.

We can just keep doing it the way we're doing it. We can attack everybody for small-minded things and crush everybody with a new idea. And where are we going to be? Where we are now - behind. Or we can embrace new things and try to be positive and let everybody play a role.

America was my home for a very long time, and it's a fascinating, pioneering country that many people look to. In the recent past it hasn't been doing very well, but there's a great new hope now with the election of Obama. America took a very big leap there and proved that it still has the edge as far as being able to do things many other countries may find difficult.

I always look at things half full and definitely see a change in how things are going as far as black actresses and their opportunities.

We're not going back anywhere, we're going forward, we're going forward in democracy, we're going forward in participation, we're going forward with ideas.

I propose changing fear for hope. I propose changing Mexico.

As an American people, what is greatest about our history are the many times we have led this world away from hate, towards hope.

Futurism is another American myth: whether Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan or Obama, American presidents all come into office with a new program, and the conviction that the country is going to be better than ever.

Some people just don't want to see change, but thankfully there are a lot of people more optimistic for something new in music, even with the bigger picture like with Obama getting elected.

I'm very much inclined to be a next-chapter guy instead of a last-chapter guy.

I was like everyone else when Obama was elected - optimistic.

Obama is the New Generation and the hot light of a dawn that goes way beyond clever talk of morning in America.

Gay marriage will be universally accepted in time. But if I may be so bold as to say to gays and lesbians, don't wait for that time to arrive. Just as my father and his generation did not 'wait' for their civil rights, nor should you. The toothpaste ain't going back in the tube. The tide has turned.

At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.