Making films is such a large, collaborative effort and there's so many people who are a part of it.

Instead of asking for permission, we're seeing more artists and creatives taking control over the stories we tell.

I think a lot of times for women, especially in this industry, we're forced to do things for beauty that aren't good for what we already have.

I will never forget my first Valentino Haute Couture show.

All of us can relate to when something happens in your life and it just completely changes it. Now you have to figure out how you're going to move forward.

I want a career filled with a lot of variety.

We're seeing more black women saying: 'This is who I am; this is what I've been given.' And it's beautiful.

I'm committed to jumping into roles, worlds, and stories that historically actors who look like me have been left out of.

For whatever reason, Hollywood has had a very limited view of what life is and what certain people in certain roles, what they look like.

When you're a Black actress, the box that we often get put in is so small. And me being a dark-skinned Black actress, the opportunities become so limited in a way that is just wrong. It's not fair. I'm so capable of playing a wide variety of roles. It comes down to whether or not I'm given the opportunity to do it.

We all live in different worlds and situations, so what's the issue with representing that on screen?

The history of black people in America, it's so painful. But throughout all that history there has still been the ability of our community to find love and laughter and joy even in these very painful circumstances. That's why I think in particular black love is so powerful, because it's constantly under attack.

My mom put me into a performing arts elementary school back in Cincinnati, so I started studying acting in school when I was seven.

The black community is under attack in so many different ways.

I'm definitely a person, even when I need help, I got to be going through it to finally ask for help.

If you see black people being portrayed in this one way well then, when you see a black person in real life, you're going to carry some of that way of thinking with you.

As much as I love to slay a red carpet hitting the ground running with 'Beale Street' and 'Native Son,' representing two such important voices in James Baldwin and Richard Wright let people know that I'm an artist and I really have something to say with this gift.

It would be tough to live a life without any of the people you loved, where you can't even build new relationships. That connectivity is so important as humans. I wouldn't want to live like that.

Who do I have a cinematic crush on? I mean, it's such a go-to: Michael B. Jordan. I was like, it's everybody's go-to. Who else?

It's the first way I feel we can really express ourselves. There's always a story you can tell with fashion.

It's important for me to not be put into any type of box because that steals the fun of acting. I want to do everything.

I always have to find things that I relate to and understand in the characters that I play; otherwise, it won't feel that authentic.

I think with the 'Fresh Prince,' there were all of these really interesting personalities and characters, and yet there's so much love in that household.

I'm not one of those people that's like, 'I'm about to serve on this Whitney Houston song at like 2 A.M.' No. Karaoke? I'm just like, 'Live your best life.' We're not worried about those notes, we just living.

To see a young black woman being loved for just who she is - her hair, her skin, her clothes - is powerful.

Seeing all of these beautiful brown faces and having that patience for them to live in whatever it was that they were living in; I was just so blown away by the artistry that I recognized in 'Moonlight' - the colors, the music.

I'm learning so much about my style just having access to so many things now. Growing up in Cincinnati, we really didn't have much money so it was really about places where you can go to get the most for the least.

Will Smith is my favorite actor, because he has so much variety in his career. He's done all types of roles, played in all types of worlds, and to me, that's the fun of acting. That's why I started doing it when I was eight years old, because you get to be whatever you want.

People will definitely know that my art has something to say.

I could do comedy, action, or even science fiction.

Acting is communication. It's giving and receiving.

The thing about tarot - maybe this to me is the difference between it and working with a psychic - to me it's clarifying the things that you already know. I don't feel like any tarot reading I've done or received was particularly surprising. They always speak to things that you kind of felt already.

Watching 'Moonlight,' I just recognized this patience in the film - allowing moments to live and linger - and I just thought that was so beautiful.

I remember growing up and feeling like I didn't really see much of myself represented. Or if I did, there were only a few types of roles that had authority.

As an actor, my commitment is to be really mindful of how I'm representing Black women. It's the heart of my drive, and my career is to expand how Black women have been represented.

'Beale Street' is such an intimate story that I think it requires intimate connections between the artists that are a part of it.

I want to push the boundaries on the roles that have historically been given to actresses who look like me. There is so much more we can do. There always has been.

I'm not extra, I'm not going to be the person walking around the house in an extravagant gown during quarantine.

Fashion is another opportunity for me to break through boundaries and to be seen wearing things.

I left before I had the opportunity to pursue work more widely in Chicago.

I was artsy.

I don't want to be put into a box.

I'm very grateful that 'Beale Street' was that opportunity for me to be introduced to the industry in that way and have some doors open for me.

I prefer a real villain to a false hero.

We should be led by principles and morals and not by men.

I never stop reading. I read everything, and I read every day. If you never read anything, be curious. Curiosity is the true foundation of education, reading things that we've factually already agreed on, and I love reading books. With that said, it's more important that you ask the question 'why.'

I don't accept 'political rapper' because I don't give a damn about either political party. I give a damn about the people. My rap comes from a sociological standpoint rather than picking a particular side or dogma or ideology. I just want people to be free to do what they want, as long as they don't harm others.

A lot of times, our greatest minds are locked into a 9-5 job.

I tell people I live in Atlanta. Georgia's outside of Atlanta, absolutely. But my family's from the very rural south. My family's from Tuskegee, Alabama. And they're from Eatonton, Georgia. Places like Greenwood, Georgia, my family is from... so I've seen it both ways.

Being a cop is often seeing the worst of the human condition and behavior. With all of that said, there is no reason that Mike Brown and also Eric Garner are dead today - except bad policing, excessive force, and the hunt-and-capture-prey mentality many thrill-seeking cops have adapted.