- Charlotte: Where are you from?
- Barry: Hawaii. Indonesia. Kenya. Take your pick.
- Charlotte: Really? Um... Ni vizuri kukutana na wewe.
- Barry: Really? What? In front of all these people? I mean, you're very pretty, and I'm flattered, but...
- Charlotte: No, that's not what I was trying to say-...
- Barry: I'm just messing with you. I have no idea what you just said.
- Barry: They're uh, different races. I'm guessing that's what Kathy meant.
- James Boggs: Ah, I see
- Barry: My mom's from Kansas, and my dad's from Kenya. I've only met him once though. I grew up in Jakarta and Honolulu, and spent a little time in California, then well, I ended up here.
- James Boggs: That's some kind of gumbo.
- James Boggs: You know what that makes you young brother?
- Barry: No sir, I don't. I uh really really don't.
- James Boggs: It makes you American. And you don't ever have to choose.
- Barry: You know, every time I open my mouth in class, it's like... I'm supposed to speak on behalf of all Black people. Meanwhile, I, uh... I quit going to Black Student Union meetings because I didn't feel like I belong there either.
- Ann Dunham: The world is a big place, honey. You'll find your way.
- James Boggs: You take the baton from the ones who've come before you, and you carry it as far as you can. And then you hand it off
- Grace Lee Boggs: That's life. A beautiful struggle.