J. August Richards Quotes

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.

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 never saw a little African-American girl saving the world. So to be able to be that for not only myself but girls who look like me is really important and inspiring. Unfortunately, we don't see ourselves saving the world a lot, and if we do see any type of superhero, that person usually has superpowers.

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.

The weight of expectation is huge. But for me, that pressure has been outweighed by getting text messages from mums I know saying how huge it is for their mixed-race daughters that I am playing Hermione.

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

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.

I just want to be fully challenged as an artist, so that anyone who looks like me, who relates to me, says, 'Oh, if Danielle did it, I can.'

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.

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.'

Maybe some young girl seeing me on the Emmy stage may have meant something for them.

When I sold my first middle-grade novel in 2005, it wasn't that common to put an author photo on the back flap, but 24-year-old Korean-American me insisted. I wanted Asian girls to see my face. And more than that, I wanted them to see what is possible.

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.

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

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

When you speak to potential black and ethnic coaches who want to go into the game, one aspect that they always speak about are role models. They would like to see representation, more at a higher level. And any part I can play in that I am delighted to do.

The more people feel comfortable to showcase that and the more we highlight that as a visibility for young girls to see and look up to - I think that's better.

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 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.

I feel bad for my little cousins who don't see themselves being represented, or the little girls in my community who won't have a chance to see a Disney princess... who resembles them.

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.

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.

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 grew up never seeing myself on-screen, and it's really important to me to give people who look like me a chance to see themselves. I want to see myself as the hero of any story. I want to see myself save the world from the bomb.

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