Quotes About Representation

At some point along the way, I stopped being a writer, and I became a black writer. I never used to be a black writer. I used to write 'Spider-Man,' 'Green Lantern,' whatever was lying around. 'Thor,' 'Hulk,' whatever. Now, if the phone rings or when the phone rings, it's almost exclusively some project that has something to do with my ethnicity.

Spider-Man is supposed to be 'neighborhood friendly,' but I've never seen that dude at a Black Lives Matter march.

Regardless of the business aspect of things, is there a reason that there isn't a female Hitchcock or a female Scorsese or a female Spielberg? I don't know. I think it's a medium that really is built for the male gaze and for a male sensibility.

I didn't really want to be a filmmaker, growing up. Other than Spike Lee's movies, I would think, 'Where is a place for me?' We were so damn poor that it just seemed too far beyond.

Spike Lee really gave us a platform, men and women of color.

The first black girl book I fell in love with was most likely 'Please, Puppy, Please' by Spike Lee and Tonya Lee.

I felt a little anxious/nervous representing a real person in a Spike Lee film.

When a government for the people becomes a government in spite of the people, then who are we really serving?

The Trumps were elected because of or in spite of their wealth - depending on how you feel about the First Family. They never misrepresented themselves. They have always been honest about who they are.

Early on I saw the plastic quality in colored people and had friends among them; and later was to work from colored models and friends, including Paul Robeson, whose splendid head I worked from in New York. I tried to draw Chinamen in their quarter, but the Chinese did not like being drawn and would immediately disappear when they spotted me.

The black masses must demand and refuse to accept nothing less than that proportionate percentage of the political spoils such as jobs, elective offices and appointments... They must reject the shameful racial tokenism that characterizes the political life of America today.

In one sense, the stories I read betrayed me. Too few gave me back my mirror image. Fewer still spoke to, or acknowledged, the existence of the problems I faced as a black foster child from a dysfunctional and badly broken home.

I spoke to Mali and they understand; I've never lived there and I never said I was going there, my intention was always to play with Spain.

In 1981, I spoke at the Olympic Congress. I was scandalised that I was the first athlete to be given that chance. But I made the most of it.

I think I always dreamt of having a brand that really was represented globally, that had a voice - that had a clear voice and a clear vision that made women feel great about themselves. That really spoke to women on a personal level. And that women could wear.

The magazines were born out of a need that my parents saw: that there were no magazines that really spoke to black people. 'Ebony' wrote about architects and artists, the share cropper who sent his nine kids to college, real African Americans at a time when everyone else only covered them as entertainers and athletes.

In hip hop, 'real' has always meant one who represents in actuality what they present in imagery. For instance, once upon a time, if a rapper spoke about being gangsta, they needed to truly be that, or they were 'frontin.'

I decided to run for Congress because when I was approached as a community leader, I felt that one of the things that spoke to me most was the constituent services.

I want to speak for people that may not feel like they're being spoken for at the moment. And I want to make a connection between the world around us and the charts.

I'm glad I'm a woman; I'm glad I'm a rapper because I get to speak to these people who did not get spoken for in this genre.

The spoken form is in fact a very restrained representation of what is possible in the musical language.

It's kind of like an out of body experience, watching my words being spoken by the actors, watching the portrayal of me by John David Washington.

The roles I used to be cast for were typically objectified women, so I was always being shown or spoken about through the lens of the guy.

Everybody who I've spoken to who was conscious when 'Queer as Folk' went out says it was a complete game-changer. It completely changed people's perception of young, gay men especially.