Quotes from Franchesca Ramsey

The truth is that the performative nature of social media can turn even the simplest conversations into a WWE style cage match with emojis and Internet slang taking the place of pratfalls and over the top costumes.

It took me years to realize that 'normal' is actually super boring and that being myself was harder but infinitely more rewarding.

If I know you, and you want to touch my hair, you should ask me first, and most of the time I'll say yes. But if I don't know you, and you just reach out and touch me without asking or touch while simultaneously asking, I'm going to give you a side eye.

My consciousness is a process, and that includes my relationship with my husband. His being white doesn't make me any less black or invested in black issues, the same way him being a man doesn't make me any less of a feminist.

I'm very self-deprecating, so I'm not afraid to make jokes at my own expense, and I've just found that makes people a little more comfortable and can open the door for people to feel a little bit more understanding and accepting of where you're coming from.

I think that the most important thing when it comes to achieving your dreams is just that you have to be realistic.

I have been talking about social issues on YouTube for a long time now. I think it's very important in terms of being able to reach people around the world and people who have never been exposed to certain topics or are maybe misinformed about certain things.

YouTube is an amazing platform to talk about social issues because it gives people the ability to tell their own stories and reach audience around the world who may otherwise never be exposed to these people and conversations.

If you're brave enough to search 'Franchesca Ramsey' on YouTube, you'll find a sea of ranting white dudes pinning the 'angry black woman' stereotype onto my smiling face.

I think doing research is probably the most valuable thing you can do for any career you're interested in pursuing, and not just a career on YouTube or in media. Really take a look at people whose careers you admire and learning from their successes, but also their mistakes.

When I started in 2007, YouTube was just a fun hobby for others and myself.

There was a long stretch of time where I was making these videos, and everyone just thought I was a weirdo because I was making videos in my apartment instead of, like, going out, you know. And so I, like, it's hilarious now because everyone gets YouTube now. But, you know, in 2006, when I started making videos, like, no.

For me, YouTube was about creating content because I had an interest in beauty and comedy and wanted to find a way to mix those two things, and I could do it from my home, own my own time.

I create videos for my YouTube channel Chescaleigh and for 'Decoded,' a series with MTV.

I'm so inspired by people like Issa Rae who started on YouTube or Abbi and Ilana from 'Broad City' who also started on YouTube.

My ultimate goal is to make people laugh and make them think, which isn't always an easy task.

My debut book is a collection of personal stories and advice about communication on the Internet. More specifically, the downfall of communication because of the Internet.

People feel really uncomfortable talking about race and identity, largely because the subject is so taboo.

Social media, unfortunately, just makes it a lot easier to be jealous. It sets up false expectations of reality, so it's really easy to look at someone else's life online and assume that they have everything going great for them and that their life is perfect.

Unfortunately, oftentimes people hire and give opportunities to people that look like them. They don't realize how much their own internal lives or privilege gets in the way of looking for people outside of the traditional spaces where they always find people.

There are some white people who are very unhappy that I am in an interracial relationship.

The biggest thing I try to do is to unplug and give myself time away from social media and the Internet.

It's important to understand you can't remove the historical context of racially charged stereotypes or slurs as much as we like to pretend that we can.

In many ways, being yourself is dispelling stereotypes.