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" 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.' "

Kenya Barris

Alone

Tough Times

Relationship

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" We're supposed to be becoming more evolved as a society, and we're actually becoming less evolved. "

" I think that, for so much of our matriculation through American society, black people sort of feel like outsiders. "

" 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. "

" Sometimes you realize that life isn't defined by the good times. "

" I'm doing another pilot about a black Democratic pundit who's married to a white Republican pundit. And the purpose of me wanting to do that show - and ABC sort of supported me in the way they did - is because I feel like, you know, the political system is like an old married couple. "

Kenya Barris

Black

Know

" 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.' "

" Jill Soloway is a friend of mine. She does 'Transparent,' and she's amazingly funny and brilliant and bright. And I love her show. "

" I love Meryl Streep. "

" 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

" I have a 'hope for the best, expect the worst' mentality. "

" My kids are nothing like I remember black kids being when I was a kid. "

Kenya Barris

Black

Remember

" 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. "

" 'A Different World,' for me, was in a lot of ways responsible for me going to college. I wanted to go to a black college, and I wanted to get out of Los Angeles. It's just a natural part of all of our journeys, that idea of leaving home. "

Kenya Barris

Black

World

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

" As much as we want to say racism is dead, it's still rearing its ugly head constantly. "

" I've been on predominantly 'white' shows before, and I had also been on predominantly 'black' shows. I would complain that when I was on a white show, they would only hire me because there was a black character or they needed a black voice. But then I would be mad if they went and hired a white dude in my position. "

" For me, one of the big things I really worried about a lot was nuclear war growing up. "

" My mom went through civil rights; my dad went through civil rights. My name was Kenya because they wanted to give me an African name. "

Kenya Barris

Civil Rights

Name

" For me, Shonda Rhimes is an amazing person that I look up to. She empowered a lot of her writers to go on and do other things while, at the same time, she made sure she kept her stamp on those things and grew her business. "

Kenya Barris

Business

Look

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

" I have five kids, and people can say 'nature versus nurture,' but it is nature! Nurture has so little to do with it. I have five kids, and there are five totally different people in my house. "

" Whenever you put a family together, they may share some points of views and morals, but there are going to be differences. "

" You get a little older, and you start understanding the world in a different way and what you don't have control over and what you do have control over. "

" To me, the Peabody was as big if not bigger than any award, but I do understand an Emmy Award-winning show has a different buzz when it comes to start talking about renewals and things like that. There's a professional something to it that matters. "

Kenya Barris

Talking

Start

" Laurence Fishburne - he's a great actor, but he dances and sings, too? He can just do everything. "

" I set out to tell my story, which is based on my family. Dr. Cosby told his story in 'The Cosby Show.' The comparisons stop there in terms of my creation of the show. We just both happen to have black fathers at the center of it. "

" The small moments I've had to talk with President Obama, I've told him, 'I get it.' His presidency was in some ways almost overshadowed by the fact that he was the first black president. "

" I feel like money is an interesting thing when you don't come from it. "

Kenya Barris

Money

Feel