#BlackLivesMatter was born online but now lives in street actions, in conversations in our homes, and in the dignity swelling in our hearts. That is the power of the open Internet, and it is why we must do everything we can to protect black voices. Our lives depend on it.
I hate white people writing for black people; it's so offensive. So we go out and look specifically for African-American voices.
Coming out of the 2016 election, there was a few things that became really clear. One, that black people deserve to have vehicles that represent the breadth of our interests. Two, that we really need to do a better job of being able to communicate what conditions and experiences our communities are facing.
As would-be songwriters, our interest was in black music and black music only. We wanted to write songs for black voices.
We have African-Americans and black people getting behind the scenes more and more, we get true black images in television and film...because we have black people behind them. They can tell stories from those points of view and bring to life those characters who have yet to be shown. As long as we have people behind the camera just as much as in front of the camera doing the work, then we'll always be good.
I just want to tell black stories.
Republicans think that the NAACP is the only voice in the black community. It is a voice in the black community. But it's not the only voice.
I think the lesson is that when you give black voices a platform and the opportunity to tell our story, we will tell good stories just like anybody else.
My aunt is the director of the acapella group Black Voices. I was so struck by them as a child. They sang with such passion and conviction. By the time I turned 15, I had plucked up the courage to ask if I could join the group. Acapella is a different discipline from singing with an accompaniment - it is much more exposed.
There's an inherent idea that if a Black executive producer and a Black director are going to do a movie based on a Black writer's book that everybody is going to be Black.
I don't think people have been able to deal with the fact that African American filmmakers can make movies about life and relationships.
I've seen a lot of Black content creators calling for white folks to stop using the voices of Black folks to make TikToks because it's like digital blackface. That's valid.
There's a lot of Donald Glovers, Jordan Peeles, Justin Simiens. And there's a lot of me's, too.
I am admiring of my fellow peers, black filmmakers and black actors and actresses.
I've been getting interested in reimagining folk songs and writing songs that should have existed but didn't, particularly around the Civil War when black voices were muted and only allowed particular channels.
There are some stories I want to tell that I think it'd be cool to see an African-American dude do.
Look, we are building out a large coalition program from Latinos for Trump, Black Voices for Trump, the faith-based, all kinds of different coalitions. That's an important thing for us to do. We need to turn out those voters.
I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable.
