I got into the business because I love writing. When it came down to finding my voice, which every writer has to take time to do, I think I realized I write black people very well. I write us in a very honest way, and I want to hear the way we really talk.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a writer's passion for authenticity and representation in storytelling.
Lena Waithe emphasizes the importance of finding one's unique voice as a writer, particularly regarding the representation of Black experiences. She values the honesty in portraying the genuine way Black people communicate and live, highlighting her commitment to truthful storytelling that resonates with her community.
In practice
This quote can inspire writers at a workshop to embrace their identity in their narratives.
As a black woman in the industry, you really do have to hold your head higher, stick your chest out, be kind and polite and generous even when you don't want to be sometimes. I learned that and, also, just to never take no for an answer.
Being a black lesbian myself, I roll my eyes a little bit when I see black lesbian characters on shows where it's purely there for decoration. You can just hear it in the writers room... 'What if we make her a lesbian?'
It's weird because I see black gay characters on television all the time, but do I relate to them? Not always, because they're set pieces.
The cool thing about dope black style becoming in style is that the industry has no choice but to try and reduplicate that.
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.
Being born gay, black, and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay black female is.
The film project has been “twenty years of constipation,” and he likens the Hollywood process to “trying to grill a steak by having a succession of people coming into the room and breathing on it.”
Comming from your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man
When you rehearse a play, you spend four weeks with one goal in mind - to wean the actor away from you. You want the actor to become completely independent and to understand all the emotional and psychological moves within the character.
While writing 'Half of a Yellow Sun,' I enjoyed playing with minor things: inventing a train station in a town that has none, placing towns closer to each other than they are, changing the chronology of conquered cities. Yet I did not play with the central events of that time.
The construction of Europe is an art. It is the art of the possible.
The song that nerves a nation's heart is in itself a deed.
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