Courtney A. Kemp

“New York is the center of the world. I grew up in Connecticut, outside of the city, and my father commuted to the city for work.”

“It... does... not... have... to... be... pointed out all the time. Like, 'Isn't it great that you're black, and you're a woman?' Isn't it great that the show's good? I would just love for it not to be a thing - for it just to be, like, super norm.”

“50 Cent is a brilliant marketer.”

“My dad was very, very invested in image. He felt that as a black person, the thing you could control was how did you look, how did you dress, how did you sound, how did you smell, how did you act. All of that stuff that you could control would absolutely have a strong impact on your access.”

“I'm from an upper-middle class background. But because there was no one of my race where I grew up, I was very isolated. I felt different from everybody else.”

“I think women judge other women more harshly, always, which is a shame.”

“50 Cent and I really started to bond over our love for music. The first conversations we had were about Curtis Mayfield.”

“I worked at 'Mademoiselle,' and then it shut, and I worked at 'GQ' for three years, during which I was freelancing. I wrote for 'Vibe.' I did music reviews. I wrote for 'Time Out.' I was desperate to get into 'Entertainment Weekly' or 'New York Magazine.' Like, desperate.”

“God is in control of everything.”

“My parents were 30 years older than I was, and my parents had my brother and I ten years apart. My parents grew up in segregation, and they both lived in all-black neighborhoods and grew up with large black families. I didn't have any of that, and I didn't understand feeling so differently and being treated so differently.”

“There are some aspects of the story of 'Power' that clearly are about race in the sense that any one of us now who's black and was raised in this country was raised with a lie, which is, 'You can never be president.' That's not true.”

“There's always going to be a part of me that wants an Emmy. Truthfully, I'm probably more motivated by people being entertained. I'm more motivated by people being like, 'Oh snap! Did you see that?'”

“Comedians are on the road so much that when they're just getting to act and sit in one place, they're really grateful and just ready.”

“'Power' would never have gotten on the air if the folks at Starz weren't saying to themselves, 'This is an underserved audience.' It was a financial decision, not a benevolent decision based on a need to change the industry.”

“If I weren't a showrunner, I'd be a much more accomplished mother; if I were not a mother, I would be a much more accomplished showrunner. I have to be okay with getting a B in both.”

“There's hip-hop music in 'Power,' but the show is not about the hip-hop industry.”

“I'd say it's far more challenging to be female and be a showrunner. People are not surprised to see a black person running this show, but the female aspect is the thing that I get asked about.”

“I thought I was going to be a professor; then I ran screaming from there into magazine journalism.”

“Not many people get to create a television show that actually makes it on the air.”

“There's a difference between talent and skill. You might have writing talent, but skill is learned. You have to practice. I remain teachable. I was sure that I didn't know everything. People who work with me will tell you I don't think I know everything. I watch people sink around me thinking that they knew everything.”