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" I say a prayer several times a day about what I can control and what I can't control. "

Courtney A. Kemp

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" Being a writer is great because you get to come up with stuff. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" God is in control of everything. "

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

" When I was pitching 'Power,' I had an executive say, 'Well, I already have a black show.' He said that right to my face. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I am a black woman, and I'm proud of that, but as a showrunner, I want to think about what makes me unique beyond my race. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" If you wanna be your own boss, you gotta work your way up - have the skills. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" There's a difference between talent and skill. You might have writing talent, but skill is learned. You have to practice. I remain teachable. I was sure that I didn't know everything. People who work with me will tell you I don't think I know everything. I watch people sink around me thinking that they knew everything. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I worked at 'Mademoiselle,' and then it shut, and I worked at 'GQ' for three years, during which I was freelancing. I wrote for 'Vibe.' I did music reviews. I wrote for 'Time Out.' I was desperate to get into 'Entertainment Weekly' or 'New York Magazine.' Like, desperate. "

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'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

" Obviously I'm not from 50's background - I'm from Westport, Connecticut, which is as far away from his background as you can get, right? Growing up in Westport, for a long time I was the only black person living there for miles. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" The Shawshank Redemption' isn't a movie about a black guy and a white guy who become friends - it's a movie about freedom. At the end, the cathartic experience of seeing our own emotions reflected back to us, that's the purpose of storytelling. "

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

" 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

" You don't keep your job if you don't make a great show. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" If everyone knows the role they play, and they do their job - executing it well and with enthusiasm - it comes together successfully every time. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I am tired of people using 'diverse' to mean 'of color.' That's not what that word means. 'Diversity' means people of all different races, all together - like a New York City subway. "

Courtney A. Kemp

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

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

" My dad was born with no money. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" Ultimately, at the end of the day, taking a chance on 'Power' is taking a chance on me. "

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 always going to be a part of me that wants an Emmy. Truthfully, I'm probably more motivated by people being entertained. I'm more motivated by people being like, 'Oh snap! Did you see that?' "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I thought I was going to be a professor; then I ran screaming from there into magazine journalism. "

Courtney A. Kemp

" I always like to write myself into a corner. I think the best stuff comes from only having a few ways out. "

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

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

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

" 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 dad and his sister, who is no longer with us, used to dance on the streets for money. They had nothing. "

Courtney A. Kemp