Lena Waithe Quotes

I think it's impossible to be a young black male from the South, born to an era I was born in, and not have a clear sense of what race really means in the country.

If you're a black person in America, it's really hard to avoid being black. And what I mean is that the reality of your cultural history, regardless of whether or not you talk about it, it's there.

I was fortunate to be raised in Seattle, which was amazing, but that doesn't take away from the fact I was still a black kid growing up in America.

Every day of my life I walk with the idea that I am black, no matter how successful I am. And our success is tempered by that; you're successful in this way given the fact you are black, and most blacks don't get to that point.

Sometimes I wonder if I got lulled into not wanting things because I grew up black in this country.

In America, I feel black with all of the rubbish that comes with it.

Part of what our problem as blacks in America is that we don't claim that. Partly, you see, because of the linguistic environment in which we live.

There is a multitude of experiences that make up the black experience.

I don't think there is enough understanding of how diverse black America actually is.

I'm an American, but being a black American, my experience is a particular one, my struggles have been particular.

College was where I got to actually experience the difference between black and white.

I spent my life navigating systems built upon me - a black child in America - not making it out.

I also believe that you are what you have to defend, and if you're a black man that's always going to be the bar against which you are judged, whether you want to align yourself with those themes or not. You can think of yourself as a colourless person, but nobody else is gonna.

In all my novels, I deal with the many problems and prejudices which exist for Black people in Britain today.

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

At screenings for 'Black in America,' I've heard people say, 'Well you know, I never thought you were black until you did Katrina, and then I thought you were black.'

I have no interest in romanticizing poor black people, having been one of them myself in our beloved hometown of Detroit.

Given the historical power differential between blacks and whites, blacks are required to be attentive to the way their white counterparts see themselves in relation to people of color if they want to survive and even thrive.

If you're black in America, race is a factor in your life. Start with that assumption.

It is hard for a black man to just be himself. We spend so much time in defense of something that is indefensible because there is nothing to defend.

I don't think people in America understand race, and how deep the hooks of whiteness there are in our consciousness.

The trials my father went through were things most young black males have to go through. There was nothing he shielded from me, because it doesn't matter how you grow up, those who oppress will oppress. It's all completely relatable; everyone feels NWA.

Blacks have traditionally had to operate in a situation where whites have set themselves up as the custodians of the black experience.

In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just 'disappeared' as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns.

It's very hard to be black in this country and hate America. It's really hard to live like that. I would actually argue it's impossible to fully see yourself.