Quotes from Salim Akil

Black folk have been 'the other' in shows and movies and in life for quite a long time. Not from our perspective, we're not 'the other,' but from other people's perspective we have been 'the other.'

I feel like I have a responsibility to be true to who I am as an artist, first and foremost.

I have two little black boys. And a film like 'Do the Right Thing' can help illuminate the times for them with great storytelling.

No matter how happy and peaceful you can be at a certain time, you always have this - at least, I do - paranoia or catastrophic thought that even now that I have all this peace and quiet, what's the next challenge? What's coming next? On a very human level, I think most people can identify with that.

I had been pulled over quite a bit by police officers, especially in Santa Monica and Culver City.

In popular culture, there is this notion that African-American men and women can't get together, and we're having these issues. I think it's an American problem because I know a lot of white women and men who are having just as many issues trying to find 'that person' as anyone.

I remember, as a kid, wearing the Batman costume for Halloween and feeling empowered by that as a kid.

It's a wonderful thing to see 'Wonder Woman' directed by a woman. That did have an affect on the character, the , and the nuances of that film. That's the same thing my wife, Mara Brock Akil, and I are doing taking on 'Black Lightning.'

If I see one kid dressed up like Thunder or Lightning or Black Lightning, I'll feel like I influenced the culture in a very positive way. That's the endgame for me. If this happens, my mission will be complete.

A lot of African Americans, especially men, deal with this as a part of life. I've been pulled over by the police in my life, and I think I've only gotten a ticket once. It's just a part of everyday life, and it doesn't matter if you're in the car with your children or by yourself.

If there's a responsibility, it's just to be honest in what I've experienced and to put it in my work.

I came up seeing what a lot of young brothers see in this world, and you learn to deal with people with a long handle spoon in order to survive.

I don't walk around all the time thinking of myself as African American, but oftentimes in Hollywood, you are reminded of that in ways that can make you question your viability.

I never saw a true representation - an iconic hero - for myself. It just got boring, reading about all these really powerful and heroic white guys.

Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce, Thunder, and Lightning deserve their own show because they are not 'the other.' They are legitimate superheroes in their own right, and so they deserve the full breadth of exploration. That's what makes them worthy, and that's why they deserve it. They are not 'the other.' They are 'the the.'

If I'm walking down the street or taking my kids trick-or-treating, and I see some young girls or boys who are dressed up like Black Lightning, that, to me, would be success.

My wife asked me to marry her. But we did not jump the broom.

I've worked in a mortuary and seen the consequences of what guns and knives do to people.

When you see a superhero that looks like you and lives in and fights in a neighborhood that is sort of like yours, it's empowering to a degree that makes you have hope. That is the power of storytelling, and that is the power of images.

Often, African-Americans' work is accepted as if we did something artistic by happenstance. It's almost like, 'They make TV shows the same way they dance. It's just natural!'

My mother, Betty, was an entertainer - she opened up for James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner - and I had an uncle who would work as a chef in a restaurant, 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4. I was young, so he could have been shorter, but in my mind, that's how tall he was.

I grew up, I had three uncles and... I loved Uncle Donald because he gave me dating advice, and I was, like, 5. But the other thing that I found fascinating about my Uncle Donald is he dressed up like a woman. And so I grew up around all of these men who dressed like women, so when I hear that, I don't hear a cause. I hear my family.

I think that people in America, unfortunately or fortunately, are just discovering different aspects of the humanity of African-American people. And so I think with that discovery comes, 'Oh, you could be a superhero; you could be president or whatever it is that we thought you couldn't be.'

If anyone sees anything in 'Black Lightning' that seems foreign to them, then they haven't been paying attention. This is a uniquely American experience.