African American culture is American culture.
— Salim Akil
Every time I get an opportunity to do what I love to do, it's huge. It never gets old.
I grew up, I had three uncles and... I loved Uncle Donald because he gave me dating advice, and I was, like, 5. But the other thing that I found fascinating about my Uncle Donald is he dressed up like a woman. And so I grew up around all of these men who dressed like women, so when I hear that, I don't hear a cause. I hear my family.
Come election time, black and white politicians put on their costumes of compassion and care, shake black hands, kiss black babies, sing 'We Shall Overcome' in black , and pray that we will ignore the reality of everyday suffering and the damage that is being done to our future in exchange for our votes.
You change the landscape in Hollywood with action, not words.
If you bury me in a grave, don't ever come visit - because you won't find me there. You'll find me in the books that I've read, the music I've listened to, and the art I've created.
When you see a superhero that looks like you and lives in and fights in a neighborhood that is sort of like yours, it's empowering to a degree that makes you have hope. That is the power of storytelling, and that is the power of images.
I never like to do storytelling where everything is just copacetic right after that episode.
Most guys have to go through this: When do you separate yourself from your friends? Some of them are going to go left, some of them are going to go right, some are going to go straight. And you have to go on your path.
It's less about Trump and more about the people... If the American people are willing to elect someone like that president, then that's more of a problem.
My mother, Betty, was an entertainer - she opened up for James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner - and I had an uncle who would work as a chef in a restaurant, 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4. I was young, so he could have been shorter, but in my mind, that's how tall he was.
It's one thing to be a comic book fan, but when you have to create a character and put him in a suit and keep the story grounded in reality, the challenge sometimes is making sure he actually uses his powers.
If there's a responsibility, it's just to be honest in what I've experienced and to put it in my work.
When you're young, taking a risk doesn't necessarily feel like a risk because you're young.
Black folk have been 'the other' in shows and movies and in life for quite a long time. Not from our perspective, we're not 'the other,' but from other people's perspective we have been 'the other.'
I don't think I'll ever do a show with violence where there's no consequences, 'cause I know the consequences.
As an artist, I write and I do what I know and what creatively comes out of me, and I think that other artists should do the same thing.
I think my big break was getting out of Richmond, California, alive.
I always feel like, whatever job I direct, whether it be a movie or whole season of 'The Game,' I just fall in love with it.
I don't walk around all the time thinking of myself as African American, but oftentimes in Hollywood, you are reminded of that in ways that can make you question your viability.
America has a strange relationship with its racial memory. Death has always been a constant companion of black people.
When you're given a certain amount of power - like, you're a writer and an employed writer, and you put pen to paper, and people are going to read what you write - that's power.
Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce, is the American dream.
I remember, as a kid, wearing the Batman costume for Halloween and feeling empowered by that as a kid.
Nina Simone, to me, singing about black culture - she's unparalleled.
Michael Schultz's 'Cooley High' is a classic. Oftentimes, we don't get to see films about coming of age, especially for young African Americans.
Women want you to feel that you're just as attracted to them today as you were when you first met them, and for me, that's the truth.
I think that people in America, unfortunately or fortunately, are just discovering different aspects of the humanity of African-American people. And so I think with that discovery comes, 'Oh, you could be a superhero; you could be president or whatever it is that we thought you couldn't be.'
If the only thing that was interesting about Jefferson Pierce is that he is African-American, I don't think we'd have much of a show.
I feel like I have a responsibility to be true to who I am as an artist, first and foremost.
A lot of African Americans, especially men, deal with this as a part of life. I've been pulled over by the police in my life, and I think I've only gotten a ticket once. It's just a part of everyday life, and it doesn't matter if you're in the car with your children or by yourself.
Jefferson Pierce is the epitome of what black men are: He loves his wife, his children, and the community.
I know and understand the result of extreme violence in my own life, in my friends' lives, and so I know what violence really is.
If I'm walking down the street or taking my kids trick-or-treating, and I see some young girls or boys who are dressed up like Black Lightning, that, to me, would be success.
We all want to make money and have a good life. But if your passion is writing, and you want to write a novel, I don't think you should sit in your home and wait for someone to give you the opportunity. You write it.
Often, African-Americans' work is accepted as if we did something artistic by happenstance. It's almost like, 'They make TV shows the same way they dance. It's just natural!'
In this larger conversation about diversity, we want to really show that we're all the same. We are all experiencing the same stories.
It doesn't make sense to constantly talk about the lack of diversity in Hollywood. We all know it's there. My wife and I just want to change that conversation with our work.
What I saw in Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce, even the villains, are aspects of myself.
We don't have a lot of black superheroes.
No matter how happy and peaceful you can be at a certain time, you always have this - at least, I do - paranoia or catastrophic thought that even now that I have all this peace and quiet, what's the next challenge? What's coming next? On a very human level, I think most people can identify with that.
In popular culture, there is this notion that African-American men and women can't get together, and we're having these issues. I think it's an American problem because I know a lot of white women and men who are having just as many issues trying to find 'that person' as anyone.
I have two little black boys. And a film like 'Do the Right Thing' can help illuminate the times for them with great storytelling.
I came up seeing what a lot of young brothers see in this world, and you learn to deal with people with a long handle spoon in order to survive.
If I see one kid dressed up like Thunder or Lightning or Black Lightning, I'll feel like I influenced the culture in a very positive way. That's the endgame for me. If this happens, my mission will be complete.
It's a wonderful thing to see 'Wonder Woman' directed by a woman. That did have an affect on the character, the , and the nuances of that film. That's the same thing my wife, Mara Brock Akil, and I are doing taking on 'Black Lightning.'
I had been pulled over quite a bit by police officers, especially in Santa Monica and Culver City.
Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce, Thunder, and Lightning deserve their own show because they are not 'the other.' They are legitimate superheroes in their own right, and so they deserve the full breadth of exploration. That's what makes them worthy, and that's why they deserve it. They are not 'the other.' They are 'the the.'
I've worked in a mortuary and seen the consequences of what guns and knives do to people.
If anyone sees anything in 'Black Lightning' that seems foreign to them, then they haven't been paying attention. This is a uniquely American experience.
