Jesse Williams Quotes

I don't like to do press. But I know sometimes I need to do it because every time I do there's young people - black and white, but I think about young African-Americans because that's the experience I grew up with - who hear it.

I have to have a seat at the table. I have to have a say on how we, as African-Americans, are produced and depicted around the world. Along the way, I'll be very fair to white people.

It's important, as a young person of color, to see yourself reflected in the media.

I always crave to see more stories about and by people of color, particularly new work by young black writers.

People identify with me - everyone does - African American women, Caucasian women, they all identify with me because I'm ethnic.

Historically, diversity has been a real issue for superhero comics - so we need to do something about it, crafting strong, modern heroes for a modern audience.

Every child deserves to see themselves in stories they can enjoy, but it isn't the place of white people to decide how and why those stories are created and marketed.

In the long run, we will need many more African-American, Latino, and Native American leaders, and leaders from low-income communities, who can bring additional insight and a deeply grounded sense of urgency, and who are the most likely to inspire the necessary trust and engagement among students' parents and community leaders.

Films really can change a conversation and change someone's thinking and perception, especially with people of color at the center. It rarely happens. I think it's important for both the community but also the world to see people of color in all genres, especially love stories.

Not being white has never prevented me from enjoying Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. These are heroes of mine.

It's not enough even to have one black Barbie... because black women are not a monolith.

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

There are some stories I want to tell that I think it'd be cool to see an African-American dude do.

One of the great needs of Negro children is to have books about themselves and their lives that can help them be proud.

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!

Girls of color and young women need to be seen, heard, and valued. Schools can help make this happen by including our stories in the curriculum.

We all had to dodge the idea we were spokespeople for our races. Like, 'Hey, it's the Mexican Guy! The Filipino! The Chick!' We've always stood up to it and said, 'Fine, bring it on and we'll show you how we rock.'

'Essence' is political. I grew up on the magazine, looking at the covers. Seeing ourselves on the cover is political.

I think the crux of this urgent and real conversation about representation and diversity in art-making and storytelling both behind and in front of the camera ultimately has to do with simply seeing more human perspectives.

I think it's important to have diversity in comics for a thousand reasons. It's not just some airy conceptual thing: it's important to reflect the humanity of the readership.

I can't even believe that in 2018, I still have to lay out why diversity in anything matters.

We have to support everyone so their stories don't get 'invisibilized.' We don't necessarily have to repopulate the next Marvel movie with people of color, but it's just about saying 'We have hearts, we have souls, we have minds, we have faults, we have flaws, and we're super-freaking interesting.'

When you surround yourself with white people, you continue to hire white people, and when you make an effort to hire people of color, that does bring in different stories and different people.

It's important to the world to see superheroes that are spread across our demographic.

Diversity is not just about the fact that the pictures look better. I mean, they always do look better!