“Ethnic divisions can definitely be exacerbated by a lack of natural re...” — Dinaw Mengestu Quote

Ethnic divisions can definitely be exacerbated by a lack of natural resources, but those tensions become violent when people manipulate them for their own political gain.

The fact that I have always been deeply invested in politics, and African politics in particular, inevitably played a role in my first novel and, of course, in my decision to write about a handful of particular conflicts in Africa as a journalist.

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, the color of my skin and my rather peculiar background as an Ethiopian immigrant delineated the border of my life and friendships. I learned quickly how to stand alone.

When I was growing up, Forest Park was full of integrated families. It was amazing. One my best friends was Vietnamese. Another one was half-Mexican, half-black. Another one was from Colombia. Another one was born in the U.S., but his mom was from Germany and spoke with a German accent. So we all had multiple identities.

You can't work across party lines when there aren't many of them. So I'm going to work across Republican Party lines because there are a lot of divisions in the Republican Party.

Actors play a small part in all the things that go into the making of a movie. I want to know about pre-production, post-production, shot divisions - everything.

I had to start all the way down the divisions and that is really difficult. You might be playing well and having great performances - but nobody ever watched us.

Genuine solutions that could help heal divisions in society have been ignored.