Police departments across the nation must develop nonviolent 'rules of engagement,' so that they don't reflexively respond to suspected crimes with violence. This will require more in-depth training in the behavioral psychology of conflict resolution so police have tried-and-true techniques of preventing and de-escalating violence.

My father provided some very important guidance in how we deal with conflict and polarization.

After acknowledging that most law enforcement personnel are fair-minded and do a difficult job, it only takes one exception to create a terrible tragedy.

Among her many accomplishments, my mother is often identified as the leader of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday movement.

I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries.

But there are parents out there who feel like they have been shut out from the process of how their children are educated, and that's never a good thing.

Sometimes, being a single mother, I miss the freedom. I see my other friends with kids, and when they go out for a drink, it is the dad that stays in.

I had a lot of conversations with my family, my close friends, with my pastor, with God, and kind of came to a revelation that maybe I should be honest with myself about who I am and let that person - this woman who has lived inside me for my entire life - finally have an opportunity to live.