Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman Quotes

There is power in seeing a face that looks like yours do something, be someone. There is power in moving from the sidelines to the center.

In the Royal Ballet Company, there was a Japanese principal dancer, and onstage and in ballet, they have colorblind castings - so I did see Asian dancers, and they were always my favorite. When you have someone who looks like you, it's something you can kind of grab onto, and it makes you feel better about your place in the world.

When I saw Neneh Cherry singing on TV, I was so glad that there was someone of the same ethnicity - and with the same curly hair - for me to look up to.

It meant something to see people who looked like me in comic books. It was this beautiful place that I felt pop culture should look like.

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.

The day that I saw Whoopi Goldberg on television, I cried so hard because I kept looking at my daddy going, 'Oh my God. There's somebody on TV that looks like me! She looks like me! Yay! I can be on TV! I can be on TV! I can do it! Look at her - look at her! She looks just like me.'

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.

It's important to read books and see people who look like you. It helps you know that you are not the only one or the weird one because you're a black girl and you are not seeing anyone who looks like you in these books.

When I was growing up, in the '80s and '90s, I just never really saw myself reflected in the things that I had a liking for. It makes a difference.

When I was younger, I didn't have that type of person that I could look up to and be like, 'OK, this is someone who dresses like me and I relate to.' I didn't have that growing up, so to give that opportunity to a younger generation of women - and not just Somali women, but anyone who feels different - that means a lot to me.

I get reached out to by a lot of people who just thank me for representing them and their friends. Just showing people like them on TV. It's just really awesome to hear from them.

I loved her music and the fact that she was a classically trained pianist and that her voice was so unique, but what made Nina Simone my hero is that I had never seen anyone in the public eye who looked anything like me at all, ever.

There's something to be said about seeing your face represented. There's just something really important about that. It just draws you in more.

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.'

I didn't have a hero playing in sports that looked like me.

When I get to meet my audience when I go speak at colleges or when I'm walking down the street, it's been really eye-opening how many people have been touched to see someone that looks like them on television.

I didn't see a lot of role models or women who looked like me on screen when I was growing up. For me, one thing that changed all of that was seeing Keke Palmer in 'Akeelah and The Bee.' That film made me realize that I wasn't an alien.

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

When you're trying to inspire individuals across the country, you have to have a reflection that people can see themselves in.

It's important for kids to see someone who looks like them carving his own path. I definitely acknowledge that, and I think it's super great.

Seeing someone that you can relate to in the media is everything as a child, and a lot of people are not granted that luxury.

I hope that I can be an inspiration to kids that are young and may feel different or may feel like they don't belong.

For those of you who are underrepresented in technology, know that you've always been here. Look in photos and see yourself reflecting back.

My visibility may have gotten Hollywood to redefine what's attractive.

Obama was the best thing for black nerds everywhere. Finally we had a role model. Before Obama, we basically had Urkel.