My father passed away when I was very young, so I was head of household for a very long time. Whether it came to cooking food or having to braid hair to get kids out of the door for school, I've been one that has - with the help of my mother - has been a father figure for a lot of young ladies.

Nate Parker

Trying to convince someone that they are a racist or they have White Privilege - if it's in the air they breathe and the culture supports them, sometimes they never have to think about it at all.

Nate Parker

white-privilege air thinking

It's therapy. [people] say true healing requires honest confrontation, and that can be seen on a macro scale with America and the things that have been swept under the rug, whether it be with the native Americans or slavery, or whatever holocaust that's happened on this soil.

Nate Parker

healing native-american people

My mother always tells me, "Fear isn't from God," and I believe that. But sometimes, I wonder whether I'll be able step into the shoes that God has prepared for me.

Nate Parker

shoes mother believe

If a person was accused of being a racist when he was young - he said some racially insensitive thing or someone had him on tape calling someone the n-word or whatever - and then you fast forward and he feels, Oh, back then I didn't say this or that. He's not thinking about the person that he hurt when he said what he said, or however it came out, or the effects that it could have had. He's not thinking about it. He's thinking about his own self and how he feels.

Nate Parker

hurt self thinking

I want young people to ask me if I'm serious. Our young people have been lied to and misled for so long. When I stand on this soapbox, I want young people to ask me that because once they know I'm serious, they'll be willing to ride with me.

Nate Parker

soapbox long people

I need to take toward a lot of things that will refine me and make me better suited for leading anyone out of any place of injustice to a place of justice.

Nate Parker

injustice justice needs

When an artist becomes complacent, he dies.

Nate Parker

complacent dies artist

We have such a knee-jerk reaction to our young people, not recognizing our young people carry the torch. We condemn them for their hats worn a certain way or their hoodie worn a certain way, or their pants sagging a certain way, but the reality is, we need to meet them where they stand. We need to arm them with what they need to fight, and then we need to get the hell out the way and let them lead. That is something that is not happening in our communities.

Nate Parker

fighting reality people

I think it's like the '60s - we're going to see another revolution in film where these new filmmakers stand up and take ownership of what film is and mould it into what they want.

Nate Parker

revolution want thinking

And when I say dominate, I just mean work harder than anyone else could possibly work at it.

Nate Parker

work-harder hard-work mean

Sadly, black people disassociate ourselves from the things which make us who we are, identifying them as lesser, or inferior. It's a form of self hate.

Nate Parker

hate self people

When I think about 1999, I think about being a 19-year-old kid, and I think about my attitude and behavior just toward women with respect objectifying them.

Nate Parker

attitude kids thinking

We kind of reduce our responsibility to not saying the N-word and to condemning the Klansmen, rather than saying many of our celebrated institutions are systemically racist. Many of our institutions that deal with law enforcement or controlling the bodies of Black people are systemically racist. Many of our educational institutions are systemically racist. Many of our corporate institutions are systemically racist. We don't have those conversations, so things don't change.

Nate Parker

educational responsibility people

I'm not perfect, I'm a flawed man, but I'm willing to try to get better, I'm willing to listen.

Nate Parker

get-better perfect men

Every day I'm reassessing what I've been taught against what I see, and the man I need to be if I'm going to call myself a leader of anybody.

Nate Parker

leader men needs

When you're 19, a threesome is normal. It's fun.

Nate Parker

threesome normal fun

I prefer to make movies which not only have a message for "then" but a message for "now."

Nate Parker

messages

I don't want to be a leader that is one-dimensional or two-dimensional because he's not willing to be open.

Nate Parker

leader want two

I think chemistry and great acting go hand-in-hand.

Nate Parker

acting hands thinking

When you're 19, getting a girl to say yes, or being a dog, or being a player, cheating. Consent is all about - for me, back then - if you can get a girl to say yes, you win.

Nate Parker

girl dog cheating