Leslie Odom Jr. Quotes

I want to see as many black professionals as possible.

I've heard people say, 'Why do you have to do a show that's called 'Black Girls Rock'?' or 'Why is there an expression called 'black girl magic'?' You know, when you say, 'Save the dolphins,' you don't mean, 'I don't like whales.' That's just not the way it works!

I do not share the gloomy thought that Negroes in America are doomed to be stomped out bodaciously, nor even shackled to the bottom of things. Of course some of them will be tromped out, and some will always be at the bottom, keeping company with other bottom-folks.

I am for Obama, all the way. I don't support Obama just because he is a black man; I support him because he is an educated black man. He is making black people proud.

Indians were here first - it's about time. We're way behind the African Americans and Hispanic Americans in getting politically involved, but we're beginning to take a page out of their notebook.

Latinas are the fastest growing segment of the minority population, and their perspective deserves to be represented, not denigrated.

There's a lot of Americans, black and white, who think that we've arrived where we need to be and nothing else needs to be done and affirmative action needs to be dismantled.

The lack of diversity, specifically in genre films and the superheroes our kids grow up watching and emulating, they can't really identify with. When you see the same thing, over and over again, and it seems not to speak of you and your heritage and your culture, it leaves you out of this world a little bit.

Make black history every day, I don't need a month

The challenge facing America in the next century will be the shaping, at long last, of a truly common public culture, one responsive to the long silenced cultures of color.

America must be a nation in which its multiracial people are partners in power.

... a legitimate revolution must be led by, made by those who have been most oppressed: black, brown, yellow, red, and white women—with men relating to that the best they can.

I want to see women of African descent shine.

The narrative needs to change. Asian-American actresses don't want to be the damsels in distress anymore. We don't want to be saved, especially by a white man.

For me, I actively look for projects that showcase people of color.

In England, you feel like a member of the revolutionary guard the minute you even mention race. But I do think that the OscarsSoWhite phenomenon will have to reflect back on England. What people are essentially saying is that they want to see more diverse stories. It's not about putting three black people in the back of the shot.

Strange, is it not, my brothers, how often in America those great watchwords of human energy - 'Be strong!' 'Know thyself!' 'Hitch your wagon to a star!' - how often these die away into dim whispers when we face these seething millions of black men? And yet do they not belong to them? Are they not their heritage as well as yours?

Hollywood as a whole has recently been made aware of the Negro's true position in America and our responsibility toward the subject.

I don't want to not be African. The goal is to live in a world where my race doesn't limit my access, where I can see myself represented in the highest level of society without any limitation.

With abolition, it's necessary to destroy systems of oppression. But it's equally necessary to put at the forefront our conversations about creation. When we fight for justice, what exactly do we want for our communities?

I realize there is a paucity of African-Americans in my position. Everywhere I go, people say, 'Don't mess this up. Don't forget about us.' You feel a tremendous responsibility, not to take the black side of things but to make sure that side gets heard, because if I don't do it, who's going to do it?

There's nothing that makes me feel better than being on these mainstream shows, whether it's 'The View,' 'Colbert' or whatever, and saying, 'It's a privilege to be black.' Oh, I love that.

I made a film about a person living with a disability. Those kinds of films are often about the disability, not who a person is.

I think diversity and having women and people of color in key positions is really important.

Black Girl Magic means that I have the power to overcome anything. Especially when we're in a world where you're told that you can't do something or you're less than, I'm reminded that my ancestors have overcome so much. There's still so much work to be done, and I have the power to overcome it.