Louis Gossett Jr. Quotes

For African-American people, I am in the business of inventing a reality that gives a different perspective - on history, on crime, on art, on love.

Those who are privileged have little regard for history.

As a white, female, half-Jewish writer, when I read 'The Underground Railroad,' it reminded me that America isn't just the sort of Sesame Street that I grew up with that tolerated and embraced diversity in the Northeast, but in fact was built on the foundation of slavery.

I feel that, as a person of color, I've always been interested in the stories that are quiet and the stories that often get overlooked.

It's always fair to criticize, to question, to engage about things like whitewashing and violence against women and choices of lack of diversity. All those things are really, really a good thing to talk about.

When you have privilege, you have to been quiet and listen.

Our mental maps are distorted by who are the 'winners' of history and who are the powers of today.

It is mind-blowing to pause and think that a film as forward-facing and potent as 'Do the Right Thing' was released the same year as 'Driving Ms. Daisy.'

We have been listening year after year to [white people] and what have we got? We are not even allowed to think for ourselves. "I know what is best for you," but they don't know what is best for us! It is time now to let them know what they owe us, and they owe us a great deal.

There is a great silver lining to the 45th presidency, which is, it's hard to swallow that he is existing, which gives us the silver lining, which is a great uncovering of the historical disenfranchisement and marginalization of so many people in this country for so long.

Art is observing society around you, representing it through your eyes.

I think, overall, there is a lack of diversity in the arts. I'm thinking about when I was in grad school: I could probably count on one hand the number of minority students in the graduate school program.

Racism is something that is taught. We, as a people, need to work to get past that.

My art gets called political, as opposed to my intending it to be political. I think that's something that happens with black artists or marginalized voices trying to speak truth. Because there are things in the status quo to speak out against, speaking out against them will inherently be political.

'Mulk' is a film that needed to be made. We can no longer sweep the isolation of the Indian Muslim under the carpet.

Intersectionality is not easy. It's not as though the existing frameworks that we have - from our culture, our politics, or our law - automatically lead people to being conversant and literate in intersectionality.

Inherently, having privilege isn't bad, but it's how you use it, and you have to use it in service of other people.

America is built on the labors of the oppressed.

Sexism isn't a one-size-fits-all phenomenon. It doesn't happen to black and white women the same way.

There are so many people out there struggling with racism, or their sexuality or where they're brought up or how wealthy their family was ans these issues are not hidden, they were in the late 19 century and they're still important today.

When we uplift artists who reflect diverse perspectives their stories not only tell us how people view others, but how they view themselves.

History is not just written by the winners; it's written about them.

There are literally hundreds of stories about women of color that haven't been told that are amazing, fantastic, better than anything else.

I think the stakes are always high when you're an artist of color - to get things right, to get things perfect and make everybody happy.

I am not a woman on Monday, an immigrant on Tuesday, a worker on Wednesday, and a mom on Thursday, I am all of those things all of the time, and I am going to fight for all of those things all of the time.