Lena Waithe

Actress

1984-05-17

Quotes by Lena Waithe

• I don't like beating people on the head with the message. I don't like standing on the soapbox.

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• I love a web series. But to me, it does the girl in Detroit a disservice who just watches television. It does a disservice to the girl on the south side of Chicago who doesn't go online.

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• 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.

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• Somebody could look at me and go, 'She's dressed black,' or 'She's behaving in the stereotypical way of a black lesbian.' But this is how I feel most comfortable. This is my authentic self. I want the freedom to be that regardless of how someone interprets it.

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• To be a black person is to come from a long bloodline of survivors and storytellers, with a resilience that people can't even comprehend.

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• I love basketball! When I'm flying, and I have on sweats, a hat, and sneakers, people always assume that I'm a high school kid going to an away game. And I always say no, I'm a fan of the game.

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• It was a symbolic moment when 'Moonlight' literally took the Oscar out of 'La La Land's' hand.

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• I think it's so trite to say you have lead characters. It's like someone saying I'm the lead in my life.

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• I'm not asking for there to be all black writer's rooms or all Asian writer's rooms, or all white - I want them all to be diverse. When it's diverse, you're going to have a completely different dynamic. Everybody feels othered. Nobody feels like they've got the upper hand.

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