I've only recently realized that I have a radically different relationship with my parents than a lot of people.

I thought I was really a radical, political person, which of course I am not.

There's people who don't want to see bodies like mine or bodies like their own bodies.

You know, when I first started making online videos, there were a lot of filmmakers I befriended who were doing it too.

The parts I enjoy playing aren't really available to me. So I have to write them.

I would go to work from 9 to 6, go home, nap for two hours, then write from 8 to 2 a.m.

I didn't have to wait six years to get my show on the air, worry that someone else had a similar idea, or wait around for notes that took my voice out of the show.

At my age, no one is married, no one has kids, no one has a career.

I quit acting when I was 11 because I was cast as a bouncing ball in 'Alice in Wonderland,' and I felt slighted and wounded.

I feel like I don't watch that many shows with death.

My mom knows pretty well how I see her.

The joke I always make about myself is that I'm self-involved, but I'm not vain.

I am not a particularly political person, but, as a Tribeca resident, the commodification of September 11th is offensive to me.

There's always an article coming out, saying, 'The new thing is funny women!'

I think romantic comedy, when done right, is my favorite genre. It's just a genre that's very human.

The work that's interesting to me in other people is really confessional.

I thought I wanted to be a journalist or a novelist.

You're raised to think being a mother is an inevitable step in your development but you start to ask yourself questions, because not every woman does want to have children.

There are so many reactions to art that make sense to me - but 'ick' means something.

It's very easy for me to say what success is. I think success is connecting with an audience who understands you and having a dialogue with them. I think success is continuing to push yourself forward creatively and not sort of becoming a caricature of yourself.

I think breakfast is the one meal when you don't have to eat animal, maybe.

I'm glad if my work can make a difference.

I kind of look like every other girl, walking around.

I think if you feel like you were born to write, then you probably were.

If you're writing, you're starting in private. It can really be this amazing, private, freeing experience. Forget that it's for other people - that comes in later.

I never sort of thought of myself as a comedy writer, by nature.

I've had moments of deep self-involvement that didn't come from a place of loving myself but quite the opposite.

The things that make us different, those are our superpowers.

To be yourself is truly a revolutionary act, and I think more and more people should try it, because it's gotten me a pretty cool life.

The '80s really were - talk about no rules. People just did whatever they wanted; they could look however they wanted. There was just a lot of bigness and brightness.

Being born gay, black, and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay black female is.

I'm writing my story so that others might see fragments of themselves.

Being a black lesbian myself, I roll my eyes a little bit when I see black lesbian characters on shows where it's purely there for decoration. You can just hear it in the writers room... 'What if we make her a lesbian?'

The truth is, for me, when I was a young black girl who knew I was different, was watching TV, I would always be staring at the TV set looking for myself, and I didn't see me. And when you don't see yourself, you start to think that you don't matter, or you start to think that something is wrong with you.

I knew very early on I wanted to be a television writer. My teachers told me I was a strong writer and had a voice. I really leaned in to that.

I definitely have been very mindful of what kind of leader and creator I want to be. A lot of that has to with looking at the writers that you work with. They're all like your children. They all need love, but different versions of it.

Talk to any black person in my age group, and they'll say 'A Different World' is why they went to college. The show literally changed my life, and it boggles my mind that it doesn't get the kind of love it deserves.

I don't want to be white. I don't want to be straight. I don't want to blend in.

I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but for me, it's about pushing to the point where I can be Mark Walhberg, Ryan Murphy, or Shonda Rhimes. I want to be at that table in terms of bringing new voices in.

Somebody could look at me and go, 'She's dressed black,' or 'She's behaving in the stereotypical way of a black lesbian.' But this is how I feel most comfortable. This is my authentic self. I want the freedom to be that regardless of how someone interprets it.

People can say what they want about a person, but if you're successful and you make them money, then people don't care.

Queer black characters have been the sidekick for long enough. It's time for us to finally take the lead.

People always go, 'Damn, how you got all this happening at once?' I tell them it's the Chicago in me.

There's something specific about Chicagoans, and I just felt like I'd love to tell their story in a creative way. Not in a way to go, 'Oh, Chicago's perfect.' I don't believe that. I don't think that. I know we have our issues.

I loved 'The Wizard Of Oz.' It was, like, you know how some kids, they're crying, and they put on - people put on 'Frozen' to get them to chill and just be quiet? For my family, it was 'The Wizard Of Oz.' They would literally tell babysitters, if she gets - like, if she starts misbehaving or she starts acting crazy, just put 'The Wizard Of Oz' on.

It was a symbolic moment when 'Moonlight' literally took the Oscar out of 'La La Land's' hand.

I think, to me, I always want to tell the truth. I never want to sugarcoat things. I've never been accused of pulling punches.

I'm a big believer in writing really good dialogue.

I never had everything I wanted, but I never wanted for anything.

I think once 'Empire' hit, there was a lot of bad black TV that followed, because we work in the business of hit-seekers and copycats, so they're like, 'Oh this is a show about black people; this is about music, OK let's do a version of that.' And, of course, it doesn't work because it's not organic.