Quotes from Lena Waithe

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.

Wearing one hoop earring and playing with the androgyny - that's who I am. That's what I like to do. And I feel the world should see that. I'm not going to put a shield up or be more feminine to make people feel comfortable.

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 watched a ton of TV because I was raised by a single mom and spent a lot of time with my grandmother. Like most grandparents do, she would spend hours and hours in front of the TV box.

When people think of the South Side of Chicago, they don't think about where I'm from. It was sort of a pocket: this idyllic community of black people who took care of each other, knew each other, spent time with each other.

One of my favorites is 'Parks and Recreation.' Great show; awesome writing; beautiful, diverse cast. They also have a very diverse writer's room, which I love.

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

When you're not as accessible, you get in a tent and get in your own head, and you start doing things that are a little out of touch. I think we've seen it happen with certain artists... people can't touch them; they're not touching people. They're only touching people in their circle.

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

There's been a lot of successful shows like 'This Is Us,' 'Atlanta,' and 'Insecure,' so, I feel like whenever something works, Hollywood wants to copy it.

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.

I actually don't like saying 'lead character,' which is an interesting thing. If you say there's a lead, then there has to be someone to follow.

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.

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

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

I'm proud to carry that torch and be like, 'I'm gay! I'm black! Hang your dreams on me. Hang your hopes on me. I'll carry them to the best of my ability.'

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

I'm not in the business of making us look clean, but I don't want us to look like monsters either. I think there is a little bit of hero and villain in all of us.

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

I sort of knew very early on that I wanted to be a writer. Even in high school, I was a big movie buff, very much into TV shows, and would critique them.

I think that for the most part, black people specifically have sort of been used as props in TV shows as a way to move story along or as a way to make things more entertaining.

I wrote 'Twenties' back in 2009. I always wanted to tell a story where a queer black woman was the protagonist, and I'm so grateful to TBS for giving me a platform to tell this story.

I had a lot of great bosses - I worked for Gina Prince-Bythewood for two years, I worked for Ava Duvernay as a PA on her first narrative film, and I worked with Mara Brock Akil, so a lot of wonderful role models.