Kenya Barris

“We're supposed to be becoming more evolved as a society, and we're actually becoming less evolved.”

“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.”

“I love Donald Glover.”

“I think that's the key to any artistic endeavor: You want it to feel fresh and not have people look at it like it's re-creation of something else unless it's done in a really strong way.”

“I set out to tell my story, which is based on my family. Dr. Cosby told his story in 'The Cosby Show.' The comparisons stop there in terms of my creation of the show. We just both happen to have black fathers at the center of it.”

“I still believe a little bit that changing gender roles have hurt relationships.”

“I will be so happy when 'diversity' is not a word.”

“I consider myself a disciple of Norman Lear. And one of the things he did was topic-driven humor.”

“I want to start really developing more on the film side.”

“I wanted to do a show about a family that is absolutely black. Because as Du Bois has shown, we do have to live a double consciousness every day in the world. We have to walk our path and walk the mainstream path, and there's never really been a show that's talked about what that's like.”

“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.”

“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.”

“No one's pro-police brutality.”

“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.”

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

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

“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 five kids, and people can say 'nature versus nurture,' but it is nature! Nurture has so little to do with it. I have five kids, and there are five totally different people in my house.”

“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 know a lot for me, personally, the best moments have come from watching my kids have an experience I never thought about as a kid but then remembered as a parent.”