I grew up in church. My mom's a minister, and my grandmother was an ordained minister. I was always very mindful of the presence of a greater being I call God. — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
[My grandmother] was the assistant pastor at Palma Ceia Baptist Church in Hayward - my grandmother, Evie Goines. And so my mother was doing - I remember when my mother graduated from beauty college, so I was about 5, and… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with [my wife] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and I just had such a strong reaction to the prayer. And I was really emotionally - I felt really grounded at that time. And so to be in this prayer and the imam is doing the… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share
I grew up in church. My mom's a minister, and my grandmother was an ordained minister. I was always very mindful of the presence… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
Like so many families, we were dealing with limited means. We weren't poor at all, but we had some challenging times financially. When my… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
I think how strict my mother's home could be with my mom and my stepfather, there was a fluidity and freedom in my dad's… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
My mother is an ordained minister. I'm a Muslim. She didn't do backflips when I called her to tell her I converted 17 years… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
My experiences growing up - my father lived in New York, so I was going out there in the summers and meeting really interesting people and people having what seemed to me to be extraordinary experiences and really taking advantage of these wonderful opportunities. And so I will go - I would go to the big city and watch these… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share
I'm not shy about trying to find what truth there is in any genre, whether that be an action piece, a sci-fi piece, a… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
You are an American, so you're hurt that other American citizens have been hurt, but you end up having to shoulder the shame for something that you don't even believe. There's a lot of years where Muslims have dealt with having to make themselves very small and not disrupt the flow and not - make sure that you're not noticed… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share
My parents were in high school when I was born. My mom was 16, my dad was 17. They were kids, at the very… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
Because on that watch list, they would be like, yeah, your name - they told me like, yeah, your name matches the name of a terrorist or someone that they're watching. I was just like, what terrorist is running around with a Hebrew first name and a Muslim - Arabic last - I'm like, who's that guy? — Mahershala Ali Copy Share
I started traveling by myself as early as 5 to see my dad. I'd go to Toronto or Los Angeles, depending on what show… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
One thing that the audience, and perhaps critics, aren't aware of is that, especially in a film like 'Moonlight,' you always shoot a lot… — Mahershala Ali Copy Share Image
![“[My grandmother] was the assistant pastor at Palma Ceia Baptist Church in Hayward - my grandmother, Evie Goines. And so my mother was doing - I remember when my mother graduated from beauty college, so I was about 5, and so I guess she was about 21. And I just remember being there, taking the…” quote by Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/53e/mahershala-ali-6687_assistants_my-grandmother-was-the-assistant-pastor_3196292.jpg)
