Growing up, I was the preferred hairstylist for all of my friends.

I hated myself for so many reasons, and I thought so many things were my fault that happened to me growing up.

I've just been growing right along. It's painful, but it's a great pain, and I like suffering for great results. It's like going to the gym. It hurts really bad at first, but after a couple of months and after that diet, you're looking so hot.

If we didn't have understanding of our journey, we wouldn't be able to go on. We'd be stuck, like, 'Why me?'

In the Bill Clinton years, the foreign leader who visited the White House most often was Yasser Arafat - 13 times.

For citizens to become fully engaged in holding their leadership to account, accurate information is required to see where action is needed, to measure the results of policies and programmes, to build support for courageous decisions and to consolidate political legitimacy.

I am always revolted when Islamic leaders, from Afghanistan or elsewhere, deny the very existence of female oppression, avoid the issue by pointing to examples of what they view as Western mistreatment of women, or even worse, justify the oppression of women on the basis of notions derived from Sharia law.

There's no one on this earth taken less seriously in a leadership context than a young woman - everything is against you.