What is the message that you give to audiences?
It’s really an understanding of the events of culture through the usage of art. I speak very clearly on the issues of race, that there is only one race, and that’s the human race. There’s no such thing as the Latino race or the African race or European race or indigenous race. They are cultures, beautiful cultures.

Why do you think your message is still so important to share?
I think that it’s really important to share due to the fact that our culture, the American culture, is so diverse, and yet our educational systems don’t prepare us properly. We are a multicultural society and yet we are predominantly teaching a very European-based history in all levels of education in this country.

What do you think that we can do to promote more understanding and multiculturalism in schools and in what people know about the United States?
The best thing we can do is just to embrace the beauty of what makes our country so strong. It’s the only country where religions can interrelate, where cultures can interrelate (and do); we have a very strong democratic way, so that’s really what our biggest strengths are. And that’s what we should be learning more about.

How has the success of your career helped you voice your message?
Not only has my career been based on the issues that I’m talking about, but since I happen to be of Latin descent, it really does help for me to speak to people. Many times I arrive in areas where they’ve never had an abundance of cultural awareness brought by their speakers, and so I embody different cultures.

What do you like the most about speaking to audiences?
I love the relationship that one feels with the audience and how we do have a tremendous amount to be thankful for. It’s really an incredible journey that we take full of laughter, thought-provoking situations, and some very emotional and very dramatic things that we discover as we go forward. I love talking in this kind of forum because it really is a very powerful medium and a strong way to communicate.

What do you learn from your audience and vice-versa?
We learn quite a bit about each other. When I get into communities, I have questions of them as much as they have questions of me. So there’s a lot of action. We do that in a very strong way, and it becomes really exciting. And young and old participate. When I leave I usually have a tremendous amount of energy coming towards me, and the audience has a tremendous amount to think about.

What do you still hope to and want to accomplish?
I would love to see a sense of understanding of the fact that we are not different races. That we are just one race. I just with that the entire planet would come to terms with this and stop looking at ourselves as different races. There are tremendous amounts of different cultures and different ways of understanding. If I could feel that by the the time I pass on we have understanding, I would feel very much that something has been accomplished in my lifetime.