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" Working with Spike Lee was a dream of mine. It was amazing to be able to collaborate with such a visionary. "

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" You look at 'Survivor's Remorse.' Or 'Blackish.' Or Issa Rae's brilliant, funny 'Insecure,' which started out on YouTube but is now on HBO. And you see multifaceted representations of the African-American experience. It's insanely exciting. "

" I think, no matter who you are, at some point in your life you've probably said, 'OK, well, who am I, and where do I fit in?' "

" I went to middle school and high school, and my drama teacher, Ms. Cooper, basically nurtured me. It was always a part of my life, and my parents allowed it to be. "

" You have to be resilient to be a black person in America. The thing about being resilient is being able to fall apart and pick yourself up again. And putting yourself back together, that improves on what you were before. "

" I try to be very particular about the roles I choose and what they say and put into the universe. I try to do my part. "

" My dad, bless his heart, always told me I was beautiful, so I was never self-conscious in that way. But when you look at the images on TV, you think you need to look like that in order to be sexy. "

" I've wanted to be an actress my whole life, and the - none of the women I aspired to be like had natural hair. "

" An actor hears 'no' more often than the average person. A black human and a black woman on top of that? That's a lot of no's. "

" As a girl, I remember looking up to pop singers, and they all had long, straight weaves and light skin. And I thought, 'That's what I have to look like if I'm going to be fierce and sexy and all those things.' "

" When I looked at 'Dear White People,' you have four African-American students who are all very different and who are trying to figure out who they are. They're dealing with identity issues and crises. That is exciting to me, to see African-American young people on a page, on a screen, who are so diverse and whose stories are all so different. "

" When you just come into a show that's already established, you feel that they're family, and they have a way of doing things and running things. "

" It was not hard for me to find guidance and motivation. I'm very blessed, and my parents were always so supportive of myself and my brother. Whatever you wanted to do, you just had to give 110 percent. So whatever that was, they supported it. "

" Every time I get a role, or the opportunity to explore a role, I look at it, and I think, 'What is the story we're trying to tell here?' "

" When I choose a role, what I'm looking for is the ability is to tell our stories. Me being a black woman, that's just a given. It's going to be a part of any role I do, making sure I tell it truthfully and nuanced and in a way that many people can relate to. "

" Ever since I was maybe nine or 10 years old, I'd say, 'I'm gonna be an actor, and I'm gonna go to Julliard, and I'm gonna be in movies.' My parents never said, 'What's your backup plan?' "

" It's no coincidence that the cities with the highest rates of violence also have the highest rates of unemployment. There are not many opportunities. We have to address that, starting from the government down and the grassroots up. "

" I think people need to watch 'Chi-Raq' because you need to know what's happening in your back yard. "

" Every time I see my friends on a billboard, I'm so excited. If God can do it for me or them, he can do it for everybody. "

" I always want to tell the truth. It doesn't have to be a pretty truth, and it doesn't have to be a life-changing and life-threatening truth like 'Chi-Raq.' But I want to tell someone's truth in an effort to inspire people to see themselves reflected on the screen. "

" When I'm filming, I keep my hair in cornrows so that they can fit a wig on top of my hair. "

" Why aren't there films being made that tell ethnically diverse stories? Or why is it so impossible to allow a person of color to add their texture and their essence to a role that is not ethnically specific? I don't know why it's a novel or risky idea to consider making a film look like how our world actually looks today. "

" When you get into this industry and the restrictions placed on women, first, and then on women on color, next? Yeah, this business comes with its challenges. But I do not shy away from those challenges. "

" I went straight from filming the second season of 'Survivor's Remorse,' and the creators over there were so supportive in letting me go early so I could film 'Chi-Raq.' And that was an amazing experience. "

" I love period dramas. "

" I really feel like the stars have aligned many ways, many times for me. I have been blessed to play some awesome roles and nuanced and meaningful characters. "

" I want to continue to strive towards deepening my relationship with God and finding peace in whatever trials or circumstances I may be given. "

" The person that inspired me throughout most of my childhood was Angela Bassett. "

" I'm like any other girl: I see the Instagram posts and the Tumblr stuff. I'm inspired by what my fellow girls are doing. "

" I, for myself, have wanted to get more into producing because I want to be a part of the conversation and be one of the voices in the story we're trying to tell. "

" When you get older, you start to doubt, and you put limitations on yourself. But little Teyonah had no fear. "