Queer black characters have been the sidekick for long enough. It's time for us to finally take the lead.
Interpretation
It's time for marginalized voices, especially queer black characters, to be at the forefront of stories.
Lena Waithe emphasizes the importance of representation in storytelling, highlighting that queer black characters have historically been relegated to supporting roles. She calls for a shift in narrative power, empowering these characters to take center stage, thereby challenging stereotypes and enriching the diversity of stories told in media.
In practice
In a discussion panel about diversity in media.
As a black woman in the industry, you really do have to hold your head higher, stick your chest out, be kind and polite and generous even when you don't want to be sometimes. I learned that and, also, just to never take no for an answer.
Being a black lesbian myself, I roll my eyes a little bit when I see black lesbian characters on shows where it's purely there for decoration. You can just hear it in the writers room... 'What if we make her a lesbian?'
It's weird because I see black gay characters on television all the time, but do I relate to them? Not always, because they're set pieces.
The cool thing about dope black style becoming in style is that the industry has no choice but to try and reduplicate that.
For me, it's about making art that's not good but phenomenal. James Baldwin didn't want to just stay above the fray. Prince didn't think, 'I wonder what the industry is gonna think about 'Purple Rain.'' It's just, is this honest? Is this real? Does this move me? The rest is icing.
Being born gay, black, and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay black female is.
Every great movement in the world starts with a tiny group of people who simply refuse to accept a situation.
We've been doing work outside of the anthem since the beginning. Before the anthem even started, players were involved in these types of social justice issues. The anthem protests or demonstrations just brought eyes and attention to it.
Gay life in 1970 was very bleak, compartmentalized. You didn't take it to work. You had to really lead a double life. There were bars, but you sort of snuck in and snuck out. Activism and gay pride simply didn't exist. I don't even think the word 'gay' was in existence.
Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware, we would want to help out, we'd want to get involved.
People are starting to go on about my weight but I'm not going to change my size because they don't like the way I look.
The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born
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