My aesthetic is very black.

Always maintain your composure.

'The Breakfast Club' was one of my favorites.

Being a black person in America is exhausting.

I love Sarah Jessica Parker. What's not to like?

I'm a big believer in writing really good dialogue.

The things that make us different, those are our superpowers.

The only way you really see change is by helping to create it.

My mother was born into a segregated America. How crazy is that?

I never like to do something that it feels like I've done before.

I don't need an Emmy to tell me to go to work. I've been working.

Being on Netflix lets us be experimental. We can do crazy things.

I'm writing my story so that others might see fragments of themselves.

You can talk all day long, but if you don't do something, it's a waste.

Things meant to appeal to the masses usually end up appealing to no one.

I'm a big fan of Nora Ephron, who believed everything is copy, and I agree.

You have to write and develop and wait for the world to catch up to your art.

Your first obligation as a writer is to tell the truth and to tell a good story.

I don't want to be white. I don't want to be straight. I don't want to blend in.

The thing for me is to always tell the truth. Not to preach, but to tell the truth.

Obviously, I love Steph Curry. I think he's dope and a really cool player to watch.

Maybe some young girl seeing me on the Emmy stage may have meant something for them.

I never want to feel too far away from people. I think that's when you get in trouble.

It was a symbolic moment when 'Moonlight' literally took the Oscar out of 'La La Land's' hand.

There's a lot of Donald Glovers, Jordan Peeles, Justin Simiens. And there's a lot of me's, too.

I don't like beating people on the head with the message. I don't like standing on the soapbox.

I'm a huge fan of television, and the reason I'm a part of the world is because I'm a fan of it.

I never thought I would write about Chicago, and I definitely never thought I would write a drama.

Growing up, I didn't just watch 'The Cosby Show.' I watched 'Growing Pains' and 'Family Ties,' too.

I'm a black woman, so I'm obviously not going to write something where women aren't at the forefront.

People always go, 'Damn, how you got all this happening at once?' I tell them it's the Chicago in me.

Being born gay, black, and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay black female is.

I always want to challenge myself as a writer. I consider myself more of a writer than I do a director.

I think it's so trite to say you have lead characters. It's like someone saying I'm the lead in my life.

Queer black characters have been the sidekick for long enough. It's time for us to finally take the lead.

The reason I get so excited about 'Master of None' is because it's showing people of color as regular people.

I'm very grateful that I'm the kind of actor where I'm not some character actor. I can't disappear into a world.

With 'The Chi,' it's me observing my own city and also pulling some things from themes I've dealt with in my life.

It's always been my intention to never be boxed in. I never like to do something that it feels like I've done before.

People can say what they want about a person, but if you're successful and you make them money, then people don't care.

All the writers for 'The Chi,' they're all phenomenal, so I'm just working on projects with them. They have great scripts.

The cool thing about dope black style becoming in style is that the industry has no choice but to try and reduplicate that.

I feel like I wanna have a series of moments. It's scary when they say you're having a moment, because moments are momentary.

I think, to me, I always want to tell the truth. I never want to sugarcoat things. I've never been accused of pulling punches.

I remember going to 'The Wood' and leaving my friend and my mom, who I came with, to go sit in the front row because I was so excited.

To be yourself is truly a revolutionary act, and I think more and more people should try it, because it's gotten me a pretty cool life.

I think the stakes are always high when you're an artist of color - to get things right, to get things perfect and make everybody happy.

Like 'Sex and the City' - if you're a New Yorker, you knew half the places they were going to. I want 'The Chi' to feel that way as well.

To be a black person is to come from a long bloodline of survivors and storytellers, with a resilience that people can't even comprehend.

It's weird because I see black gay characters on television all the time, but do I relate to them? Not always, because they're set pieces.

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