Queer black characters have been the sidekick for long enough. It's time for us to finally take the lead.
Interpretation
It's time for marginalized voices, especially queer black characters, to be at the forefront of stories.
Lena Waithe emphasizes the importance of representation in storytelling, highlighting that queer black characters have historically been relegated to supporting roles. She calls for a shift in narrative power, empowering these characters to take center stage, thereby challenging stereotypes and enriching the diversity of stories told in media.
In practice
In a discussion panel about diversity in media.
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.
I hope one day people don't look at women like they're out of their minds when they want to pick up an instrument and play. And I think we're getting a lot closer to that.
Revolution does not insure progress. You may overturn thrones, but what proof that anything better will grow upon the soil?
All significant breakthroughs are break -βwithsβ old ways of thinking.
I wanted people not to care about whether you were gay, straight, black, white, transgender, whatever it may be... That being said, there's more work to be done... I still want to change the world, absolutely.
A person can run for years but sooner or later he has to take a stand in the place which, for better or worse, he calls home, and do what he can to change things there.
I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion.
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