One of the things I was taught in law school is that I'd never be able to think the same again - that being a lawyer is something that's part of who I am as an individual now.

It would have been more comfortable to remain silent.

I see myself as an educator.

Certainly my life will not ever be as private and discreet, and perhaps I should even use the word insulated, as it was before.

The FBI has had a history of sex discrimination complaints brought against it, as well as race discrimination.

If you think about the way the hearings were structured, the hearings were really about Thomas' race and my gender.

Telling the world is the most difficult experience of my life, but it is very close to having to live through the experience that occasion this meeting.

I was aware, however, that telling at any point in my career could adversely affect my future career.

I am really proud to be a part in whatever way of women becoming active in the political scene. I think it was the first time that people came to terms with the reality of what it meant to have a Senate made up of 98 men and two women.

I thought that by saying no and explaining my reasons my employer would abandon his social suggestions. However, to my regret, in the following few weeks, he continued to ask me out on several occasions.

But the issue of sexual harassment is not the end of it. There are other issues - political issues, gender issues - that people need to be educated about.

For my undergraduate work, I went to Oklahoma State University and graduated from there in 1977.

The real problem is that the way that power is given out in our society pits us against each other.

But I think it would be irresponsible for me not to say what I really believe in my heart to be true - that there are some serious inequities that we face as women and that we can work to address these inequities.

I resent the idea that people would blame the messenger for the message, rather than looking at the content of the message itself.

The experience of testifying and the aftermath have changed my life.

Because I was extremely uncomfortable talking about sex with him at all and particularly in such a graphic way, I told him that I did not want to talk about these subjects.

What we really need to be understanding is that all of these things matter and they all stem from the fact that certain people live with power and authority and they want to maintain it.

During this period at the Department of Education, my working relationship with Judge Thomas was positive.

I did what my conscience told me to do, and you can't fail if you do that.

Well, of course it was a very trying time for me, and fortunately I had a lot of people who were supportive. A lot of people who were writing and calling and saying they were praying for me. Some people sent me Scripture, and that helped.

I'm not sure I can say there is a clean line between me as an individual and me as a lawyer.

My parents are older, and they lead a somewhat sheltered life. It was difficult to talk with them about things that were embarrassing to me, and that I had never spoken to them about.

Testifying has helped me understand that one individual's behavior and actions make a difference. That my actions are important to people other than myself.

I think, though, as African-American women, we are always trained to value our community even at the expense of ourselves, and so we attempt to protect the African-American community.

One of the things I was taught in law school is that I'd never be able to think the same again - that being a lawyer is something that's part of who I am as an individual now.

I have no personal vendetta against Clarence Thomas. I seek only to provide the committee with information which it may regard as relevant.

When I think of what has happened in a larger sense, beyond myself, then I would not change anything.

What I wanted was for everyone listening to understand that these things mattered - not necessarily for me, but in this particular forum they mattered in terms of whether of not we were getting a person who should sit on the Supreme Court.

We have a history of gender and racial bias on our court that continues to undermine the system. Excluding individuals based on race is antagonistic to the pursuit of justice.

In July of 1983, I left Washington, DC area and have had minimal contact with Judge Clarence Thomas since.

I became the messenger who had to be killed.

You cant always expect a certain result but you can expect to do your best.

But the issue of sexual harassment is not the end of it. There are other issues political issues gender issues that people need to be educated about.

I can remember the frustration of not being able to talk. I knew what I wanted to say, but I could not get the words out, so I would just scream.

What I try to do for my readers is to pass on some of the things that I found out about being thirteen after doing it for forty years.

In this watering-place I acted an heroic character, badly studied; and being a novice on such a stage, I forgot my part before a pair of lovely blue eyes.

Young people discovering their sexuality must know they walk with a strong tradition and that they are not alone. They have a right to information without being pressured.

Being a publicist is like management in a lot of ways - you're their friend, you're their mother, you're their confidante.

I mean, all alternative comedy is are comedians that have being doing it for so long, for so long, that they were relaxed enough to start becoming personal on stage.

I became hooked on the idea of being able to shoot an image and process it myself, and end up with a product.

Being a cover artist is not like being a real artist. That's just copying what someone else did.

It is too maddening. I've got to fly off, right now, to some devilish navy yard, three hours in a seasick steamer, and after being heartily sick, I'll have to speak three times, and then I'll be sick coming home. Still, who would not be sick for England?

I don't like being recognised, I have no interest in being famous at all, I just do what I do. If I could be like Captain Kirk and beam myself up and then beam myself down, I would!

I'm glad I'm not Brezhnev. Being the Russian leader in the Kremlin. You never know if someone's tape recording what you say.

Being a musician is what I do, but it's not what I am.

We're all like children. We may think we grow up, but to me, being grown up is death, stopping thinking, trying to find out things, going on learning.

We've had it very clear to the Bosnians that our obligation to equip and train their forces is completely conditional on the foreign forces being gone.

My parents were amazing people who had no business being together - and they knew it.