I consider myself more of a writer than I do a director.

I remember going to 'The Wood' and leaving my friend and my mom, who I came with, to go sit in the front row because I was so excited.

It's interesting how things you hear as a kid take on a whole new meaning when you are an adult.

I'm a big sneaker head.

It's always been my intention to never be boxed in. I never like to do something that it feels like I've done before.

I'm queen of mentorship.

Maybe some young girl seeing me on the Emmy stage may have meant something for them.

Being on Netflix lets us be experimental. We can do crazy things.

My family still lives in Chicago: my mother, my sister, my nephew, my family is there. So even though I am not living there, I feel very close to it, and I visit very often.

The reason I get so excited about 'Master of None' is because it's showing people of color as regular people.

Obviously, I love Steph Curry. I think he's dope and a really cool player to watch.

I never thought I would write about Chicago, and I definitely never thought I would write a drama.

One of my favorites is 'Parks and Recreation.' Great show; awesome writing; beautiful, diverse cast. They also have a very diverse writer's room, which I love.

I was running around all the time, talking out of turn, a lot of energy, and obsessed with movies. There's nothing I loved more than going to the movies.

I think that for the most part, black people specifically have sort of been used as props in TV shows as a way to move story along or as a way to make things more entertaining.

I love Sarah Jessica Parker. What's not to like?

I write for my people.

I'm not asking for there to be all black writer's rooms or all Asian writer's rooms, or all white - I want them all to be diverse. When it's diverse, you're going to have a completely different dynamic. Everybody feels othered. Nobody feels like they've got the upper hand.

To be a black person is to come from a long bloodline of survivors and storytellers, with a resilience that people can't even comprehend.

I actually really liked 'The Help.' I know that may not be a popular thing, but I thought it was a solid film. It wasn't 'Roots.' It wasn't 'The Color Purple.' But you couldn't pick it apart in terms of storytelling, and I thought the characters were well written.

It took me forever to leave Chicago. I went to Columbia College because I wasn't ready to leave! My professors had to kick me in the pants to move to Los Angeles.

I hope that people will say that 'she told the truth, she told her truth, she wasn't afraid to live her truth, and she wasn't afraid to live her truth out loud.' That's what I want my legacy to look like.

I think the stakes are always high when you're an artist of color - to get things right, to get things perfect and make everybody happy.

There's been a lot of successful shows like 'This Is Us,' 'Atlanta,' and 'Insecure,' so, I feel like whenever something works, Hollywood wants to copy it.

I've known I was gay since I was young, I think. And I mean young - like, young - like 5 or 6. I think most gay people or queer people know there's something different about them very early, but I didn't know what to call it.

Being a black person in America is exhausting.

I sort of knew very early on that I wanted to be a writer. Even in high school, I was a big movie buff, very much into TV shows, and would critique them.

What's 'Atlanta' about? Technically, it's about a couple guys who are friends, but to me, 'Atlanta' is about black lives. I'm getting a real look at what black life means in Atlanta.

For me, it's about making art that's not good but phenomenal. James Baldwin didn't want to just stay above the fray. Prince didn't think, 'I wonder what the industry is gonna think about 'Purple Rain.'' It's just, is this honest? Is this real? Does this move me? The rest is icing.

The cool thing about dope black style becoming in style is that the industry has no choice but to try and reduplicate that.

Even white people are tired of watching white people's shows.

I'm proud to carry that torch and be like, 'I'm gay! I'm black! Hang your dreams on me. Hang your hopes on me. I'll carry them to the best of my ability.'

I wrote 'Twenties' back in 2009. I always wanted to tell a story where a queer black woman was the protagonist, and I'm so grateful to TBS for giving me a platform to tell this story.

With 'The Chi,' it's me observing my own city and also pulling some things from themes I've dealt with in my life.

I love a web series. But to me, it does the girl in Detroit a disservice who just watches television. It does a disservice to the girl on the south side of Chicago who doesn't go online.

Things meant to appeal to the masses usually end up appealing to no one.

My mother was born into a segregated America. How crazy is that?

I had a lot of great bosses - I worked for Gina Prince-Bythewood for two years, I worked for Ava Duvernay as a PA on her first narrative film, and I worked with Mara Brock Akil, so a lot of wonderful role models.

As a black woman in the industry, you really do have to hold your head higher, stick your chest out, be kind and polite and generous even when you don't want to be sometimes. I learned that and, also, just to never take no for an answer.

I'm a huge fan of television, and the reason I'm a part of the world is because I'm a fan of it.

I'm a big fan of Nora Ephron, who believed everything is copy, and I agree.

I was such a fan of Aziz. I watched 'Parks and Rec' like every other self-respecting hipster and loved his character so much and just thought he was so interesting.

I've never been a person that has had fear of, like, 'Oh, I don't want to be the poster child for all black lesbian women.' I don't know. I want to be someone in the public eye that they can be proud of.

I just really want be proud of the work I'm doing, whether it's something I've written, produced, or am starring in. I just want to be proud of it.

Like 'Sex and the City' - if you're a New Yorker, you knew half the places they were going to. I want 'The Chi' to feel that way as well.

Every black man in Chicago walks through the world differently, and I think what young black boys do is observe, and that's what gives them their road map.

I actually don't like saying 'lead character,' which is an interesting thing. If you say there's a lead, then there has to be someone to follow.

I think it's so trite to say you have lead characters. It's like someone saying I'm the lead in my life.

I'm a black woman, so I'm obviously not going to write something where women aren't at the forefront.

I got into the business because I love writing. When it came down to finding my voice, which every writer has to take time to do, I think I realized I write black people very well. I write us in a very honest way, and I want to hear the way we really talk.