That’s what he was saying, the civil rights movement – judge me for my character, not how black my skin is, not how yellow my skin is, how short I am, how tall or fat or thin; It’s by my character.
Struggle and survival, losing and winning, doesn’t matter. It’s entering the race that counts. You enter, you can win, you can lose …. but it’s all about entering the race.
Me, sexy? I’m just plain ol’ beans and rice.
Our culture is revered and it inspires people all around the globe.
My passion is to tell stories that reflect humanity.
And as I reinvent myself and I’m constantly curious about everything, I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner in newfound art and entertainment and exploration.
Out of necessity comes genius.
I’m a big child at heart. I think it’s important to stay that way and not lose the wonder of life.
I really hate to see abusive behavior being passed on from generation to generation to generation, when we have access to health and counseling.
I never went in thinking, “You’re an African-American woman, so you’re never going to win.” I was just in career doing beauty pageants for the experience, and to show my brains and talent and help break stereotypes. It wasn’t like, “Oh, I’ll become a star. I’m beautiful.” I never thought I was pretty. I couldn’t even put on eyelashes or makeup. When you come from an environment that’s military, and they don’t stress that topic of aesthetics or beauty pageants and makeup, there are a lot of things you just don’t have that city girls have.
There are just certain realities about our world and I just happen to be creative within it.
My grandfather was the first feminist in my life. He taught me if a woman can do something, a man will respect her.
If you’re stupid and you’re arrogant, you’re going to get hurt.
Some day I want to play a grandmother. And a foxy one at that!
I don’t believe that I should just do A-movies, I just do the work as an artist.
Everyone else can do violence. You know, Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, they can all do shoot-’em-ups. Arnold Schwarzenegger can kill 10 people in one minute, and they don’t call it “white exploitation.” They win awards and get into all the magazines. But if black people do it, suddenly it’s different than if a white person does it. People respond differently because people come from different places.
I like serious films, the moneymaking blockbusters that don’t make any kind of sense and John Carpenter films.
Women are allowed more freedoms and we’re fighting for more freedoms, we’re experiencing more freedoms won.
Sometimes I’m angry, sometimes I’m not angry.
I came from poverty and was part of those circumstances.
I felt beauty was a magnet for abuse, and I had suffered greatly for it.
I consider myself conscious of how women are treated, and sometimes I can be a feminist. Sometimes I’m a little Republican, sometimes I’m a little Democrat. Sometimes I’m angry, sometimes I’m not angry. I’m not a total feminist, but I believe in rights for females. I believe that if we have to pay 100 percent for our college tuition, and then we get into the workplace and we’re only given 70 percent of our counterparts’ salaries, then we shouldn’t have to pay but 70 percent of our college tuition. Maybe that’ll stop the bullshit.
Yes, you can have art films about the triumph of the human spirit and all of that, but you’ll have it done with a big-budget icon with a $20 million salary. You’ll have Julia Roberts, you’ll have Robert Redford, you’ll have Russell Crowe doing those films, because if they’re going to cost $90 million, they’re going to make that movie for a public that’s very large and mainstream. They’re not going to make it for three or four million black people.
The first movie that I saw was Godzilla and I loved it.
I’ve never considered myself to be beautiful, and I still don’t.
