Stone Mountain, Georgia, still had Ku Klux Klan marches, and I had a wild and courageous mother who'd put us in the car to watch them. She wanted us to know those things existed.

I think it's a great time to be a person of color and with talent. And actually, to be a woman as well. Our show is one of the most diverse television shows on television right now.

Everything about us black people is complicated, us being here, being a minority, being a woman, all those things are complicated.

I was the jokester, the one who made the family laugh.

I was kind of a bully, even though I'm tiny, 5' 2". As a child, I'd boss other kids around and dress my little brother up, just putting on shows, singing and dressing up.

I've been fortunate to work with Alfre Woodard and Jeffrey Wright; people who are artists, have careers, longevity and full lives. That looks good to me.

If you punish them, they are your slaves and if you forgive them they are your brothers.

We use our gadgets for distraction and entertainment. We use them to avoid work while giving the impression that we're actually working hard.

You're only as good as your last haircut.

If I'm on the course and lightning starts, I get inside fast. If God wants to play through, let him.

The wives of Spartans are the secret pillars of the world."--Odd Thomas

Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason

Mystery: Everything felt better before you got there than when you actually got there. When you actually got there, you didn't quite have the energy to be there.

Envy's a coal comes hissing hot from Hell.

There are ways to stimulate being prolific, and part of that is making pilgrimages, and being open to listening, changing up the routine.

Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference.