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I'm interested in seeing artists whom I respect who are very focused on the Black Lives Matter moment, bringing that into storytelling in a way that really amplifies the beauty and the humanity of people of color, and does it without having to wave a big sign that says, 'This is what we're doing.'

My interest as an artist is to illuminate the lives of black folks. I definitely am focused on films that illustrate all that we are and all our nuance and all our complicated beauty and mess, and when you're telling those stories, you gotta have black actors.

People just decided I was an R&B artist because I'm black.

I think it talks about the fact that there are black people in the world who have tremendous amount of talents and have no channel through which they can those talents.

There haven't been enough profound things written about what being black means and what a black character is. Nobody knows.

There are many positive things to say about the black community. No question about it.

I think that black people, to a degree, need to have a certain level of dexterity. If we want to be at the highest level of whatever our field is, we have to be able to navigate both worlds. We all just know that you gotta be able to put that suit on and have a conversation with people that don't look like you or your family.

What is blackness? Is it the way you talk? Do you got to say, 'Dey this, dey dat.' Or the way you dress? Or is it the forgiving of certain things? What is black enough?

So much of what blacks and women contend with is centered in how we view, and how the world views, our bodies. Gestures, voices, affect.