Walter Dean Myers Quotes

I thought, 'Oh, this is great,' because maybe someone who does look like me will watch 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' and realize that they can be an actor if they want to be, or they can be a superhero. They can have a hero that looks like them as well.

It's so important for young girls of color - young girls of any color - to see diverse women as the heroes of their own story.

I just didn't see anyone on TV who looked like me, and then I saw George Takei being cool and piloting the spaceship on television.

I'm not going to change the world overnight. It's one person at a time, and hopefully they're people in positions of power who can help people get in those roles and really, truly embrace colorblind casting.

I remember watching Barbra Streisand and seeing Jennifer Grey in 'Dirty Dancing' - these were people who acted like me and looked like me. Now it's great that everyone on 'Glee' is so unique and people can relate to us and look up to us.

Nobody voted for me on account of my origins. People voted for me because of what I am and what I stand for.

When I grew up, I never saw anyone looking like me on TV, you know? I'm so glad to see a lot more of us on television, whether it's Mindy Kaling or it's Irrfan Khan or Freida Pinto. You know, I hope, like, little girls across the world can just look at me and say, 'Ah, I want to be that!' Indian or not, it shouldn't matter.

At one point, there wasn't a black quarterback in the NFL. When you start winning, then you start seeing more. Jumping up and down and screaming and calling people names is not going to change anything.

I never thought acting would be a realistic job for me. Because, quite frankly, I didn't see people who looked like me doing it. I quickly realized, that's all the more reason to try.

We always talk about how important representation is. It's so important to see someone that looks like you - whether you're African American, Asian, Indian or whatever your background is - doing incredible things. It's just motivation to go out there and do incredible things yourself.

I think representation is the most important thing in the world. People who are young look up to the things that they see in the media. They want to relate and to be able to say, 'Wow, I can be successful.'

It's important to for your kids to see themselves in their superheroes. Really, it's important for all of us.

I hope that there's a little black boy somewhere in Montana that never thought that he would see a reflection of himself, and he turns on the television, like, 'Oh my God, thank you.'

For any kid who feels like a newcomer, who feels like they don't belong, my candidacy says, 'Not only do you belong, you can also aspire to run this country.'

If we want little girls and young women and people of color to see they have a place in the tech world, it's up to us to make that place for them.

I was always asked to play roles where I was the contrasting or multicultural character. Sometimes that worked for me - often it didn't.

When you're really young, you tend to fall in love with characters. If you start seeing the same type of character everywhere and realize that they don't look like you, or they don't speak like you, you start wanting to change who you are. That's something that I did when I was a young kid.

I want to be in this position for people to be able to see I made it. I'm gay, I made it. You can. Not exactly doing the same thing I'm doing, but if it's a job or school or whatever, you're able to make it.

It's hard to be what you can't see.

I'm inspired to post a lot of positive messages on my social media because, growing up, I felt as though I needed somebody that looked like me in the limelight or in entertainment to promote being different and promote accepting your differences.

I can't compete for roles that require me to be Caucasian or African American, even if those characters really connect with me and intrigue me.

I didn't see anybody in the media or on TV that played sports that looked like me. I didn't have those things growing up. Now that I'm in that position, I'm happy to be that person if I can.

There's room for everyone, and everyone is wanted and needed. Whoopi showed me that. When I first saw 'The Color Purple,' it was so huge. That was the first time I had seen myself, my mother, my aunts, women that I had known my whole life on-screen. It gives us hope, and it gives us confidence.

We absolutely need more role models. I think we need more people to come forward and be proud of who they are.

If you can't see it, you can't be it.