KENYA BARRIS

I'm doing another pilot about a black Democratic pundit who's married to a white Republican pundit. And the purpose of me wanting to do that show - and ABC sort of supported me in the way they did - is because I feel like, you know, the political system is like an old married couple.

The PC way of handling culture has been to not talk about it. But we should be talking about it.

When I was growing up, I never saw couples fight on the family sitcoms I loved to watch. Subsequently, when tough times arose in my own relationship, I wasn't prepared and felt so isolated and alone. Marital issues weren't a part of the narrative that television told me was a 'working relationship.'

I've been on predominantly 'white' shows before, and I had also been on predominantly 'black' shows. I would complain that when I was on a white show, they would only hire me because there was a black character or they needed a black voice. But then I would be mad if they went and hired a white dude in my position.

No one's pro-police brutality.

My father lost a lung in a chemical accident at General Motors, and after a while, he got a settlement that sort of changed all of our lives and moved us from, what we say, 'ashy to classy' in some aspects.

As wild and raunchy as Richard Pryor was, people related to his honesty because they found something in their life that they understood.

To me, the Peabody was as big if not bigger than any award, but I do understand an Emmy Award-winning show has a different buzz when it comes to start talking about renewals and things like that. There's a professional something to it that matters.

I hear a creak in my house, and I'm calling the police immediately, but at the same time, I do know that when I call them, I'm going to make sure to say, 'I'm a black guy, and this is my house.'

'Black-ish' is a show that has spoken to all different types of people and brought them closer as a community, and I'm so proud of the series.

I am what I am as a writer because of Norman Lear and Spike Lee. Norman Lear in particular.

When you reach a level of status - and making it to college is an accomplishment in itself - you are trying to define who you are.

I wanted to be a doctor, because I grew up on 'Cosby.'

I think that, for so much of our matriculation through American society, black people sort of feel like outsiders.

At 24, I was probably making more than 95 percent of my friends. I was burning through money.

We should be aware and constantly having conversations about the world because that's how you change it from the bigger standpoint rather than acutely trying to change things.

I hear people say, 'I'm not a role model' all the time, and it's like, 'Well, of course you're not!' It doesn't mean that people aren't going to look at you as one, though.

If Adam Sandler does a bad movie, he doesn't bring down the whole white race. But if Tyler Perry does, it's like, 'See what you guys do?' and that type of thing.

My kids did not know that Obama was the first black president. I felt like I needed to tell them because I felt like, 'How could you not know that?' But for the ones who didn't know, he was basically the only president they knew.

It's hard to take a stand. You're not going to make everybody happy.

I don't necessarily believe that 'The Cosby Show' should disappear as a cultural reference, but it is. That's sad to me. I understand why. He was a man who possibly did some really bad things, and he should be punished beyond a doubt. But that show, and the impact it had not just on black culture, but culture, was amazing.

I have a 'hope for the best, expect the worst' mentality.

Writers' rooms are terrifying. You take someone whose never done this before, and this is their life's dream that is about to happen or not about to happen - that is an amazing amount of pressure to have.

My kids are nothing like I remember black kids being when I was a kid.

I dug deep, and I found that there were people who voted for Obama and then voted for Trump - because they saw what they believed was going to be hope and change, and under Obama, their particular lives did not change.