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" I really try to plot in a fearless fashion. I try not to care about not knowing the answer before I get there; I just jump in first and see what happens. "

Courtney A. Kemp

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" When I watch television, I want to be surprised. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I think women judge other women more harshly, always, which is a shame. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" It was not something that ever occurred to me, to be able to be in TV. I was very lucky. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" As a woman, I don't feel like I have a responsibility to create better female characters. I feel like I have a responsibility to create good characters. Because the truth is, those kinds of things ghettoize us even more as writers. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I'm from an upper-middle class background. But because there was no one of my race where I grew up, I was very isolated. I felt different from everybody else. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I don't want to be seen in a way where all I can do is what people expect of me. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" In college, I didn't know whether to hang out with the black kids or the white kids, and then I found the theatre kids, and I was like, 'Oh, it doesn't matter.' We were all weird and listening to Morrissey and wearing Doc Martens so that was my tribe. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" Around me, there's always music playing. It just calms me down; it soothes me. It helps me write. It helps me with my mood. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I'd say it's far more challenging to be female and be a showrunner. People are not surprised to see a black person running this show, but the female aspect is the thing that I get asked about. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" The show runner's the boss until the network shows up. And then they're the boss, because it's their money. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" The only black folks in town when I was growing up were me and my cousins and one other family. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" What I'm about to say won't be popular, but it's true: If being a television showrunner is the job you want, and you are a woman, I would not suggest you have children. The reality is that you just cannot do both well. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I first became a showrunner at 36 years old. I had no experience doing this job, which is as complicated and multi-faceted as anything I'd ever tried. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I remember watching episodes of 'The Sopranos' and being filled with dread knowing what was coming or anticipating what was coming. I don't think that that's always a bad thing. I think sometimes the audience needs a little catharsis held away from them. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I am not going to say that only people of color can write people of color, because that means only white people can write white people, and that's not OK. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" Any underrepresented audience loves to see themselves on TV, but what's more important is that we're writing about universal themes - good versus evil, can you change yourself? These themes resonate for everyone. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I think it's really cool that someone could have ovaries and the presidency. Growing up, I thought I could never be president because I was black and female. Now I know that's wrong. Within my own lifetime - that's different. Within my lifetime, interracial couples are more common. Within my own lifetime, biracial folks are able to claim that. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" When you pretend to be an authority on everything, it forces your subordinates to defer to your opinion - which may not be the most informed in the room. If you have humility concerning the gaps in your experience or ability, it allows others to shine. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I had very much wanted to be the very first black female editor-in-chief of 'Vogue.' Barring that, I wanted to work at 'Entertainment Weekly.' "

Courtney A. Kemp

" My experience as a black woman in the industry is simply that often I was the only one in the room. Often I would be the only woman and the only person of color. Sometimes I would be one of several women but the only person of color. Sometimes I would be one of several people of color, but the only woman. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" When I was a little girl, my imagination was what helped me deal with some sort of negative elements in my childhood. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I always ask the actors, 'What have you never done before?' "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I don't write scenes where one person is right and one person is wrong. It's very much by design that everyone has a point of view that you as an audience member can understand. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" When I first arrived in Los Angeles from New York in 2004 to try to break into television, I couldn't believe how segregated it was - how many neighborhoods were nearly all-white or all-black or -Asian or -Latino. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" There's hip-hop music in 'Power,' but the show is not about the hip-hop industry. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I think television is about the characters you want to see again, and so you want to invite these people into your home. And certainly, seeing them get into bad situations and then watching them have to get themselves out, that's always super satisfying. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" 50 and I are extremely close, so all that social media drama? It's just for the show. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" The baseline character in a lot of Western literature is a man. So we, as women, do a lot of suspending of our disbelief to experience a novel or a play or a movie through that male character. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I love 'Archer.' That's one of the best-written shows out there. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" It... does... not... have... to... be... pointed out all the time. Like, 'Isn't it great that you're black, and you're a woman?' Isn't it great that the show's good? I would just love for it not to be a thing - for it just to be, like, super norm. "

Courtney A. Kemp