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.
Nothing that is can pause or stay; / The moon will wax, the moon will wane, / The mist and cloud will turn to rain, / The rain to mist and cloud again, / Tomorrow be today.
Every great movement in the world starts with a tiny group of people who simply refuse to accept a situation.
In that part of the book of my memory before which little can be read, there is a heading, which says: ‘Incipit vita nova: Here begins the new life’.
Travel is not really about leaving our homes, but leaving our habits.
'Me too' was just two words; it's two magic words that galvanised the world.
It's time for a new National Anthem. America is divided into two definite divisions. The easy thing to cop out with is sayin' black and white. You can see a black person. But now to get down to the nitty-gritty, it's getting' to be old and young - not the age, but the way of thinking. Old and new, actually... because there's so many even older people that took half their lives to reach a certain point that little kids understand now.
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