Hillary Clinton ‘Heartbroken’ By Recent Killings of Unarmed Black Men By Police: I want white people to understand. + Watch Full Mary J. Blige Interview

Hillary Clinton ‘Heartbroken’ By Recent Killings of Unarmed Black Men By Police

Mary J. Blige kicks off her new interview series, “The 411,” with Hillary Clinton. Check out a few excerpts.

Being a ‘tough and likable’ as a woman:

Yes, I think it’s really hard, to be honest. I think it’s rooted in tens of thousands of years of how people’s lives have been defined, what it’s meant to be a woman or a man. For women to be assuming leading roles; it still is not fully understood because there’s no blueprint for doing it.

Struggling to bridge the gap between how she wants to be perceived and the way people perceive her: 

I’ve always been the same person. When you’re in the public eye, whether it’s in entertainment or politics, you do have the challenge of presenting yourself and have people perceive you as you think you are. I think some of the misperception is manufactured, and some of it I take responsibility for, that I’m not communicating clearly enough what I care about and what I do.

How she handles personal challenges, in the public: 

The public eye has a way of magnifying things that aren’t important and dismissing things that are. Part of my mantra to myself is to take criticism seriously – maybe you can learn something from it – but don’t take it personally. Don’t let people own your heart, own your mind, and really under the pressure you feel turn you into somebody you’re not.

Hamilton being on her playlist: 

I’ve seen it four times, I think. It’s just a work of genius. It’s just obsessing me right now.

Having Blige sing Bruce Springsteen’s “41 Shots (American Skin)” during their interview: 

I’ve been interviewed so many times. Nobody has ever sung to me in the middle of the interview. So moving.

The recent killings of unarmed black men by police: 

I have been so heartbroken about what’s going on. There needs to be a greater opening of our hearts to one another, we’ve got to put ourselves in each other’s shoes, feel the pain that a mother and a father feels when their son and daughter can go out the door, and they don’t know what’s going to happen to them. I particularly want white people to understand what that’s like, and feel like they must be part of the solution.

On having faith:

I have been in lots of difficult situations and I find that falling back on my faith, relying on my faith, looking for those moments of grace, is what can get me out of bed in the morning and keep me going no matter what’s happening around me. Being a person of faith has sustained me over the course of my life.

Watch the full interview below.

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