We are the most beautiful creatures in the whole world, Black people.
My job is to somehow make them curious enough
to get more aware of themselves and where they came from,
what they are into and what is already there, and just to bring it out.
This is what compels me to compel them.
Hey Queen girl, you have done it again.
Constantly raising the bar for us all and doing it flawlessly.
Being true to yourselves is the key.
I just wanted to take a few minutes to talk a little bit about Strong Black Lead.
To know that we have a team of you guys that have our back,
that make us feel like we can take over the world, that celebrate us
and make us feel seen is invaluable.
Thank you so much.
Thanks guys.
Strong Black Lead, go!
Iʼll tell you what freedom is to me. No fear. I mean really, no fear.
If I could have that half of my life, no fear. Lots of children have no fear.
And the most important thing is, they are our future.
Playing kings and queens of our neighborhoods.
Defeating larger-than-life forces, trying to flip our world upside down.
We stand up on any stage and every screen.
A day when Black women are boldly the lead character,
whether inmates or scholars. Weʼre not a genre.
Because thereʼs no one way to be Black.
Weʼre writing while Black. Nuanced and complex. Resilient and strong.
This is not a moment. This is a movement.
Itʼs like, how do you tell somebody how it feels to be in love?
How are you going to tell anybody who has not been in love
how it feels to be in love? You cannot do it to save your life.
You can describe things but you canʼt tell them.
But you know it when it happens.
An artistʼs duty as far as Iʼm concerned is to reflect the times.
This crucial time in our lives,
when everything is so desperate. When every day is a matter of survival,
I donʼt think you can help but be involved. So I donʼt think you have a choice.
How can you be an artist and not reflect the time?
Congratulations to the Strong Black Lead team.
Thanks guys just for being so supportive of us.
It really isnʼt til Strong Black Lead that Iʼve even remotely felt
as included and seen and represented as I do now.
Because when I see them doing their thing one day
and Iʼm too old to do anything but sit and look at them,
Iʼm going to say, well I was part of that.