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" My father lost a lung in a chemical accident at General Motors, and after a while, he got a settlement that sort of changed all of our lives and moved us from, what we say, 'ashy to classy' in some aspects. "

Kenya Barris

Father

Classy

Got

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" When you walk past a painting in a museum, if it doesn't make you feel something, then it's probably a failure. "

" And I feel like, as a black man within black culture, I know very well firsthand - as do my parents and my grandparents and great-grandparents - we're used to things not going our way. "

" Black, white, rich, poor - we galvanize through the hard times. We really see it happen in relationships. In the best and worst of those moments, you come together, and you look for your tribe. "

" I want to start really developing more on the film side. "

Kenya Barris

Film

Want

" There has never been a prosecuted case of slavery. There's no criminality to it. So, it was just like, 'It's over,' and thus, because it was over, and it was never considered 'wrong' in the prosecutable, criminal sense of the word, the country doesn't take it as wrong. "

" The thing that I get so often with network comedies - and, I think, some of the most brilliant people in the world do them - but it's easy to hide behind a joke. I kind of feel like when you have to face things, and you don't have humor, it becomes very vulnerable; it exposes your deepest and darkest fears in some aspects. "

" I believe comedy is a really good lens to filter serious issues through. If people are laughing, they don't necessarily realize until they stop laughing that they just took something in that's going to start a conversation. "

" I wanted to do a show about a family that is absolutely black. Because as Du Bois has shown, we do have to live a double consciousness every day in the world. We have to walk our path and walk the mainstream path, and there's never really been a show that's talked about what that's like. "

" I would say any creative person has that: you can't just force a topic. Whether you're a painter, you want to do a cartoon. Anything. Something may come up that's not your style or suited to what you are working on at the moment. So you file it away and hopefully find a place for it. "

" I'm not for having to support everything that's black, because I definitely don't. But I do feel like it is imperative for us to see that we are not a monolithic people. "

Kenya Barris

Black

Support

" 'Black-ish' is a show that has spoken to all different types of people and brought them closer as a community, and I'm so proud of the series. "

" It's hard to take a stand. You're not going to make everybody happy. "

" We should be aware and constantly having conversations about the world because that's how you change it from the bigger standpoint rather than acutely trying to change things. "

" When I was growing up, I never saw couples fight on the family sitcoms I loved to watch. Subsequently, when tough times arose in my own relationship, I wasn't prepared and felt so isolated and alone. Marital issues weren't a part of the narrative that television told me was a 'working relationship.' "

" I wanted to be a doctor, because I grew up on 'Cosby.' "

" I hear a creak in my house, and I'm calling the police immediately, but at the same time, I do know that when I call them, I'm going to make sure to say, 'I'm a black guy, and this is my house.' "

" Everybody - every single person - has a story. Find yours and tell it in your voice. "

" Comedy used to be a vehicle for change. Now, comedy has gotten to this quirky, nonsensical place, which I enjoy. But I do think there is room for discussion-based humor. We can tell those stories in a way that feels edifying. "

" I tried to do Kwanzaa with my family and was like, 'This sucks. What am I doing this for?' For me, I felt like I was doing it because I was trying to live up to someone else's idea of what 'black' was. "

" I know a lot for me, personally, the best moments have come from watching my kids have an experience I never thought about as a kid but then remembered as a parent. "

Kenya Barris

Thought

Best

" I am what I am as a writer because of Norman Lear and Spike Lee. Norman Lear in particular. "

" The acknowledgement and celebration of Juneteenth as an American and possibly international holiday is something that I would put in the life goals column for me. "

Kenya Barris

Goals

Holiday

" As a creative, you have to be your truest form. You can't worry about fitting into whatever boxes people want to put you in. "

" At 24, I was probably making more than 95 percent of my friends. I was burning through money. "

Kenya Barris

Friends

Money

" When you reach a level of status - and making it to college is an accomplishment in itself - you are trying to define who you are. "

" I consider myself a disciple of Norman Lear. And one of the things he did was topic-driven humor. "

" I love Meryl Streep. "

" Honestly, I regret not having spanked my kids. "

" I don't necessarily believe that 'The Cosby Show' should disappear as a cultural reference, but it is. That's sad to me. I understand why. He was a man who possibly did some really bad things, and he should be punished beyond a doubt. But that show, and the impact it had not just on black culture, but culture, was amazing. "

Kenya Barris

Man

Culture

" I think that's the key to any artistic endeavor: You want it to feel fresh and not have people look at it like it's re-creation of something else unless it's done in a really strong way. "