Tim Reid Quotes

My wish is to humanize history.

Children of color need a mirror to see themselves in. And then people who don't have that experience, they need a window. They need a really personalized way to see what people who are different from them are going through.

I speak from a black woman's perspective, and that's a specific perspective, but sometimes there are things I want to be understood by folks who may not have an entryway into that concept, so I have to think about how I can open the space to bring those people in. And that does require balance.

The funny thing is I'm not even Latin. I was constantly getting Latin roles, and I was like, I even was nominated for an award, and I was like, 'Let them know at the NAACP, the first white woman. Let them know I'm totally grateful, but I'm not Latin. I can't do that. I play Latin.'

Audiences want great story telling; it's why white people watch my show 'Black in America.' It's why black people watch 'Latina in America.' All of that is statistically shown and proven but it was because it was good story telling about people who were outsiders.

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

I've always gotten a positive reaction to doing African-American characters.

I don't understand labels. I don't need anybody to tell me I'm Latina or black or anything else. I've played characters that were written for Caucasian females, I just want to be given the same consideration as everybody else, and so far that has been happening.

My entire career, in fiction or nonfiction, I have reported and written about people who are not like me.

It's important to tell the story you're telling in the right way, which might involve black people or people of whatever heritage or ethnicity - or it might not.

A black actor is perfect for 'Kojak.'

I don't hate people who colour-blind cast, but I hate people who colour-blind cast and pretend that they're not, who pretend that these bodies on stage don't actually carry specific meaning.

When you cast cross-racially, another dimension is added.

I want to see designers capitalize on a beauty that is not only white. I need them to stop acting like beautiful black and brown women do not exist.

Just because we finally have a Latino family on TV doesn't mean we're up there to lecture people about what it means to be Latino.

Black history is American history. You cannot tell one story without telling the other.

I want all types of people to look at my work and see themselves, just like I watch a Reese Witherspoon movie as a black woman and can empathize with her because we have had to internalize whiteness in that way to survive.

That's how diversity becomes a gimmick or device, when it is introduced but not supported.

I'm obviously a white woman with privilege. I want to make sure I always collaborate with people who aren't like me so we can create a work that isn't one dimensional.

I have a bee in my bonnet as to how few black historical figures one sees on film; incredible stories, stories from which we are living the legacy and which just don't get made.

It's always good to be around people who get it and understand because it's a huge difference working on a black set. I can walk on a black set and not have to worry about my hair because they know.

Writers can write outside their ethnicity or sex depending how open and vulnerable they wish to be.

If we truly seek diversity in fiction, we have to let the needs of others come before our need to define ourselves as social justice allies.

Since becoming aware of the need to be inclusive, I've tried to make my stories broader and more representative of our world.

For children, diversity needs to be real and not merely relegated to learning the names of the usual suspects during Black History Month or enjoying south-of-the-border cuisine on Cinco de Mayo. It means talking to and spending time with kids not like them so that they may discover those kids are in fact just like them.