There's so many other talented women of color who write funny things every day, and I want them to be recognized, I want them to have a seat at the table because we're out here.
I watched a ton of TV because I was raised by a single mom and spent a lot of time with my grandmother. Like most grandparents do, she would spend hours and hours in front of the TV box.
I'm a huge fan of television, and the reason I'm a part of the world is because I'm a fan of it.
For me, it's about making art that's not good but phenomenal. James Baldwin didn't want to just stay above the fray. Prince didn't think, 'I wonder what the industry is gonna think about 'Purple Rain.'' It's just, is this honest? Is this real? Does this move me? The rest is icing.
When people think of the South Side of Chicago, they don't think about where I'm from. It was sort of a pocket: this idyllic community of black people who took care of each other, knew each other, spent time with each other.
I actually don't like saying 'lead character,' which is an interesting thing. If you say there's a lead, then there has to be someone to follow.
I love Sarah Jessica Parker. What's not to like?
There's a lot of Donald Glovers, Jordan Peeles, Justin Simiens. And there's a lot of me's, too.
It was a symbolic moment when 'Moonlight' literally took the Oscar out of 'La La Land's' hand.
I've never been a person that has had fear of, like, 'Oh, I don't want to be the poster child for all black lesbian women.' I don't know. I want to be someone in the public eye that they can be proud of.
I definitely have been very mindful of what kind of leader and creator I want to be. A lot of that has to with looking at the writers that you work with. They're all like your children. They all need love, but different versions of it.
I feel like I wanna have a series of moments. It's scary when they say you're having a moment, because moments are momentary.
I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but for me, it's about pushing to the point where I can be Mark Walhberg, Ryan Murphy, or Shonda Rhimes. I want to be at that table in terms of bringing new voices in.
My family still lives in Chicago: my mother, my sister, my nephew, my family is there. So even though I am not living there, I feel very close to it, and I visit very often.
I think once 'Empire' hit, there was a lot of bad black TV that followed, because we work in the business of hit-seekers and copycats, so they're like, 'Oh this is a show about black people; this is about music, OK let's do a version of that.' And, of course, it doesn't work because it's not organic.
I was such a fan of Aziz. I watched 'Parks and Rec' like every other self-respecting hipster and loved his character so much and just thought he was so interesting.
I always love where I can plug a black woman in anywhere, and when that comes up, I don't say, 'Oh that has to be a black woman.' I say, 'Why not a black woman?'
I think that for the most part, black people specifically have sort of been used as props in TV shows as a way to move story along or as a way to make things more entertaining.
I wrote 'Twenties' back in 2009. I always wanted to tell a story where a queer black woman was the protagonist, and I'm so grateful to TBS for giving me a platform to tell this story.
I think, to me, I always want to tell the truth. I never want to sugarcoat things. I've never been accused of pulling punches.