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

Kenya Barris

Categorized in : Because I Am Writer I Am What I Am

You can have good times with anyone, but it's really different and much more interesting when you look at how you get through the bad times with someone.

good look you good-times

Sometimes you realize that life isn't defined by the good times.

good you sometimes life

As much as we want to say racism is dead, it's still rearing its ugly head constantly.

dead ugly racism want

Everybody - every single person - has a story. Find yours and tell it in your voice.

your person story voice

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

stand you hard happy

Black, white, rich, poor - we galvanize through the hard times. We really see it happen in relationships. In the best and worst of those moments, you come together, and you look for your tribe.

best you black together

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.

walk day family black

When you're in the middle of it, when you're a kid growing up, you don't think, 'This is my first heartbreak.' You just think, 'My heart is broken.' But then as a parent, you look back, and you see your child go through his or her first heartbreak, and you're realizing, 'Oh my God, this is her first heartbreak.'

you broken god heart

For me, it was important to keep my name in 'mainstream Hollywood.'

name me hollywood important

I've found that the more honest and true you are and can talk about a character and people's experiences, it's less ostracizing. It actually has the opposite effect than one would think. It makes the characters and the story more inclusive.

think you character people

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.

me man sad culture

There's never really been a true apology for slavery.

true never slavery apology

'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.

proud community different people

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.

amazing someone you life

After the first couple of years of on 'Black-ish,' my wife and I actually broke up. We got back together, and it was this really, really difficult time for me.

me wife together time

When you walk past a painting in a museum, if it doesn't make you feel something, then it's probably a failure.

walk you failure past

My mom went through civil rights; my dad went through civil rights. My name was Kenya because they wanted to give me an African name.

name me dad mom

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.

classy say lost father

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

nothing like black remember

I want to make sure I don't leave any money for my kids, so I'm going to spend it all on clothes.

leave clothes money want