I used to jump out of airplanes. I was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. When parachuting, you never look down at the ground. You feel for it with your legs. Your knees are your shock absorbers - you cannot tighten them. Same as skiing.

Just saying 'I want this and I want that' doesn't do it. My boys share and share alike in the income that the organization brings in, so that teaches them the lesson: If you work, you can earn some money. That's how life is; it's the American way.

My top goal as your Secretary of State is to save lives by reducing fatal traffic crashes. When I established the Teen Driver Safety Task Force, the goal was to improve Illinois' graduated driver licensing law and, even more importantly, to save lives.

The youngsters who live in housing projects are some of the most talented and nicest kids you'll find anywhere. But they're right on the cutting edge - they could go either way. You have to work with them, guide them, and mold them like a piece of clay.

We just believe when you have parental involvement, we are going to get a better bang for the buck, so to speak. And we also encourage parents to speak with their young people about the importance of safe driving. And also remind them, too, they cannot be distracted.

I don't just work with these kids to make them good tumblers or good dancers. I'm working with them to make them good citizens - to become taxpayers, not tax-eaters. I teach them to say please and thank you. I show them how to use a knife and fork and how to fold a napkin.

I first met Dr. King in 1954 when I was a student at Alabama State University and a member of a local church down there. He was in town to organize a rally against public transportation. Rosa Parks had been arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, which was illegal back then.

There are some basic rules if they want to join the tumbling team. No drinking, no smoking, no swearing, no drugs and, most of all, no belonging to a gang. I read the riot act to them the minute they want to join. I tell them there's only one gang they can belong to if they want to be with me and that's Jesse White's gang.

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