Quotes About Representation

Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel prize.

You don't see black people winning Nobel prizes for physics or economics or any of the industries or institutions that shape the way the world operates.

I think it's something much bigger than just pro wrestling and the industry I work in. It's across all media. You look at Hollywood movies: there's not the Muslim hero or the guy who looks like me and has a name like mine who is portrayed in a positive manner or in a leading role. So, growing up, I didn't have a role model that looks like me.

In my pro and amateur fights I've always mentioned Mexico.

I think the biggest problem of the 21st century is how to deal with minorities.

Trans talent is not even making it into the audition room, and we're not even being afforded the opportunity to tell our own stories. I feel that is problematic.

A police officer asked me why I agreed to play a Pakistani in my films. I told him that someone has to do different, na. If everyone will become Indian army officer then how the story will proceed?

In a mature democracy, what is legal is decided by parliament... Our process is legitimised by parliament and by the ballot box.

I'm coming for Ryan Seacrest - I want to be the black Ryan Seacrest for BET. I want to host, I want to produce, I want to do everything for the network.

Science fiction, extrasensory perception, and black people are judged by the worst elements they produce.

'To the Bone' is autobiographical. It's written and directed by a woman; it's starring all women, apart from me and Keanu, who are in lesser parts, and it's produced by women.

There's an inherent idea that if a Black executive producer and a Black director are going to do a movie based on a Black writer's book that everybody is going to be Black.

I don't have one role that I want to play. I guess... I want to be a producer. I want to be an activist. I want to be proactive in bringing about work for men, women, boys, girls, everybody who is good at what they do and deserve a shot at it.

As somebody who has been an executive producer on a television series, I can tell you that increasing director diversity is as simple as hiring more women and more people of color.

The bottom line is that female writers aren't being given enough opportunities by male producers.

Definitely, I feel that there is a need for more female producers, directors, and writers.

When I started in the business there were no women in executive positions, no women producers or directors and certainly no camerawomen and we were destined to do very archetypal roles, very cliched things, so I was a dizzy blonde for years.

On a radio drama, I'd like to feel that I had just as much chance of playing Mr. Darcy as anyone else because I can sound like him, yet many radio producers find it very difficult to extend their imaginations to employing anyone who's non-white.

There seem to be more women producers than men.

Once there are more African Americans and Asian Americans behind the scenes as producers, writers, and directors, I think more inclusive casting will happen.

I tell my students based on my experiences in Hollywood, sure, you can always move to L.A. and try to work with the system, and people do that, but chances are if you want your story in film with characters of color, you will have to make that movie yourself. Find a way to make it yourself. Not just screenwriters, but also producers.

We need to encourage the presence of more Asian writers and executive producers so they can fight for normalizing the casting of Asians in traditional American roles.

When you have filmmakers like Justin Simien, writers, producers, actresses like Lena Waithe, who are people of color, they're creating their own content and saying, 'You know what? We're not going to wait on someone else to tell our story. We're going to do it ourselves. You can be a part of it or not.'

You can ask any Latin actor: inevitably, if they get a part meant for a white guy, producers will change the character's name to sound more Latin.