Mara Brock Akil

“I think pregnancy, like life, is what you make it. I received a good hand. I'm thankful and blessed and so peaceful and can't wait to welcome my son.”

“Where I thrive is with my hands on the keyboard or my pen on the paper. One of the things I get to do is I get to rewrite. I rewrite, and I work hard on my scripts. You can rewrite until you're 'perfect,' and that's something that's safe for me.”

“I often attribute my screenwriting to journalism because they drill in the who, what, when, where and why - but we really need to land on that why. That's what I've been exploring in my writing for many years and trying to get better at.”

“When you realize you don't own someone, you show up every day to try to make sure they stay in your life.”

“I'm not afraid of stereotypes. There are some truths to it - but the problem is that people keep sort of owning that one thing to be the truth.”

“I'm very connected and passionate about what I put out in the world, and I want to get things safely to shore.”

“I wanted always to be a storyteller of the fullest expression.”

“I can't disappear. I come from a family of beautiful women, strong women - and 'strong' defined by being themselves.”

“It's funny that black men, at first, were worried about a show called 'Girlfriends' because they thought that black men were gonna get bashed. They realized, 'Wait a minute - we're respected in this story.'”

“One of the most powerful things we have is to tell our story.”

“I believe in divine order all the time.”

“For me, I start at the place that my characters are human. I start at the place that they are onions that are layered and meant to be peeled, just as we as human beings are.”

“Technology has changed our industry, and I think that's opened up different revenue streams and ways to make money and distribute television. It's made the global conversation easier, quicker.”

“I've been having a 20-plus year conversation with black women, starting with 'Girlfriends,' moving through 'The Game,' 'Being Mary Jane,' even 'Sparkle.'”

“Sometimes, we only get to know someone as one aspect of who they are. Then you start peeling back the layers and understanding more and more about who they are - their vulnerabilities, their fears, their joys, all those other words that equal humanity.”

“When I was in '97, I didn't know I was in a very major moment. But with the privilege of reflection, I do. And that's what artists should do - they should help illuminate and reflect the human condition.”

“A staple of my personality is that I want what I want - and I'm willing to do without until I get it.”

“I've kinda been an off-Broadway sensation. There aren't a lot of lights or big marquees around my name or my work, yet my core audience knows exactly where I am.”

“To choose love and jump in not knowing, with a lot of unknowns, is a brave act.”

“I went to journalism school, so sometimes writing the script of 'Being Mary Jane' is me putting my journalism hat on.”