Quotes from Lena Waithe

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

There's so many other talented women of color who write funny things every day, and I want them to be recognized, I want them to have a seat at the table because we're out here.

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

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

Being a black lesbian myself, I roll my eyes a little bit when I see black lesbian characters on shows where it's purely there for decoration. You can just hear it in the writers room... 'What if we make her a lesbian?'

I just really want be proud of the work I'm doing, whether it's something I've written, produced, or am starring in. I just want to be proud of it.

Talk to any black person in my age group, and they'll say 'A Different World' is why they went to college. The show literally changed my life, and it boggles my mind that it doesn't get the kind of love it deserves.

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.

What's 'Atlanta' about? Technically, it's about a couple guys who are friends, but to me, 'Atlanta' is about black lives. I'm getting a real look at what black life means in Atlanta.

It took me forever to leave Chicago. I went to Columbia College because I wasn't ready to leave! My professors had to kick me in the pants to move to Los Angeles.

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

'The Breakfast Club' was one of my favorites.

I always love where I can plug a black woman in anywhere, and when that comes up, I don't say, 'Oh that has to be a black woman.' I say, 'Why not a black woman?'

I've never been a person that has had fear of, like, 'Oh, I don't want to be the poster child for all black lesbian women.' I don't know. I want to be someone in the public eye that they can be proud of.

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

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

I'm queen of mentorship.

I've known I was gay since I was young, I think. And I mean young - like, young - like 5 or 6. I think most gay people or queer people know there's something different about them very early, but I didn't know what to call it.

For me, it's about making art that's not good but phenomenal. James Baldwin didn't want to just stay above the fray. Prince didn't think, 'I wonder what the industry is gonna think about 'Purple Rain.'' It's just, is this honest? Is this real? Does this move me? The rest is icing.

I loved 'The Wizard Of Oz.' It was, like, you know how some kids, they're crying, and they put on - people put on 'Frozen' to get them to chill and just be quiet? For my family, it was 'The Wizard Of Oz.' They would literally tell babysitters, if she gets - like, if she starts misbehaving or she starts acting crazy, just put 'The Wizard Of Oz' on.

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

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.

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