It's important for Asian American kids to see themselves in stories and to feel seen. They need to know that their stories are universal, too, that they, too, can fall in love in a teen movie. They don't have to be the sidekick; they can be the hero.
When I was a little girl, there was no Variety Latino. When I was a little girl, there was no nothing. There were very few roles for people like myself.
There just aren't enough positive portrayals of Latino life in film.
The dignity of everyday life - the beauty of it, the attitude of it - is what I live around. And it is never on screen, and it is certainly never associated with Africa. If we see Africa at all, it is always used as a backdrop: a big blob of a continent rather than a specific street or a country or a place.
I'm trying to be a voice for the North African Arab community. We've got to continue to fight for our place in the industry.
I try to be as specific as possible when saying 'Arab Muslims' because there are a lot of different Muslims. I've never really seen stories about us in America, at least where you had versions of our characters that weren't framed by violence.
Let's face it. How often do you see an Asian face in films and television? They are practically invisible. Now and then, you will get one, and, interestingly, he gets the role of a scientist. Isn't that interesting?
Hollywood has definitely grown, in embracing the inclusion of Latinos in the world, because, for some time, we didn't exist. We were not part of any stories.
Black males who refuse categorization are rare, for the price of visibility in the contemporary world of white supremacy is that black identity be defined in relation to the stereotype whether by embodying it or seeking to be other than it…Negative stereotypes about the nature of black masculinity continue to overdetermine the identities black males are allowed to fashion for themselves.
When I was a little kid, I don't remember looking up and seeing so many Hispanic athletes out there.
What I hope to do in the States is to break up this stereotyping of Muslims and Arabs. I mean, we are basically the only sub-culture that is not represented in Hollywood. And it's funny because everybody is talking about the Muslim world and the Arab world, and we are not represented.
In reality, black women, women of color, are powerful, bold, dynamic, and self-assured, so there's no reason their TV counterparts shouldn't be as such.
How often, really, do you get a Filipino story line in a show? Not very often. I can't think of any.
When I was growing up, in the '80s and '90s, I just never really saw myself reflected in the things that I had a liking for. It makes a difference.
The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings. I realized that I didn't see many paintings with black people in them.
I've always been very passionate about trying to have Asian-Americans or Asian faces be more prominent in mainstream media.
I photograph artists, and some of them are very well known, but if you ask the average man on the street, 'Do you like Anselm Kiefer?' He would stare at you with a blank stare, because these are not celebrities. They are celebrated in a specific circle.
If more stories are told about marginalized communities, subcultures, and minorities, the less marginalized they will be.
I think rap music is the sole reason for a lot of black acceptance in pop culture; because the music is very popular, it gets our image out in other ways than in movies.
When I watch a TV show I wouldn't notice if someone was Muslim or wearing a hijab. It's nice to be on a show where your skin colour or religion is incidental.
I was very conscious of the world being this very crazed place that demanded explanation. I didn't see a whole lot of people who looked like me doing it on television.
Readers are hungry to have their stories in the world, to see mirrors of themselves if the stories are about people like them, and to have windows if the stories are about people who have been historically absent in literature.
Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned?
More Asians need to be on television as a positive role model.
Because the traditional mode of dress for Muslim women is so distinct - the headcovering, which is not there for guys - women carry a greater burden of representation than Muslim men do in non-Muslim societies.
