Lena Waithe Quotes

I have to fight to keep my image really me... I rejected some gorgeous publicity shots because they just didn't look like me.

I'm such a firm believer that everyone should see themselves in a character, and everyone should feel represented.

We live in such an image-heavy world that not seeing yourself in that landscape can really make it tough to feel human, to feel like you are part of the world.

It's important to see yourself represented.

Until the image of the black man in the mind of the black man has been changed, there will always be delinquency, parental and juvenile. The idea is not to change the attitude of the white man to the black man but to change the attitude of the black man to himself.

Whether at work, at home or in public, we have been trained to believe that who we are at the core of our being is often unacceptable. As a result, we work diligently to live up to - and sometimes down to - what others have made us out to be, whether or not it is an accurate reflection of who we are.

We're all just trying to fit in and find ourselves, particularly when we're growing up.

Very early on, you figure out that you put your self-esteem in the hands of strangers. There's a different commodity. There's the Helena Bonham Carter that everyone thinks they know, who really has nothing to do with me. But you just have to let that go.

My ego's not the kind that says, 'I want to be an actor and be accepted as that.'

If what I read doesn't reflect my life - whether I'm gay or Latino or on welfare - doesn't that really mean that my life is not valuable?

If I can't be beautiful, I want to be invisible.

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not convincing as an American.

I don't have a strong sense of self-worth unless I'm doing something.

One thing you have to give up is attaching importance to what people see in you.

I knew I wanted to have a doll of myself on the cover. I thought, I wanna see myself as a Ken doll.

Women always want to be what they're not: If you're the pretty girl, you want to be the quirky girl. If you're the smart girl, you want to be the pretty girl.

How you define yourself is a major issue for young people and adults alike.

I've never felt as though I didn't belong, I just acted as though I did.

When everyone is telling you, 'You're so beautiful, there's nobody like you,' you begin to think it's true. But of course there is nobody like you.

If I don't measure up as an American writer, at least leave me to my delusion.

I know what it's like to turn the page of a magazine and not see anyone like you. It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of talking to yourself to confirm your self-worth.

A hero that doesn't look like you makes you want to be something else.

Growing up, I remember watching TV, and I didn't see a lot of people who looked like me, especially someone who passed as a glamorous model on a mainstream TV show.

I always wanted to be more validated as a human being, as a person, than I was as a player. I think that was a really hard balance for me.

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.