Black people are experiencing a systemic disadvantage, and it goes back to slavery, which was not that long ago. — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
You know what, man, that's part and parcel of being a black person in this country: everything's harder. It just is. — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
Hip-hop isn't dead by any means, but it's not something I define my black identity with. — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
As a person of color, I was just really tired of the fact that I wasn't seeing my story in the culture. — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
There are a plethora of ways of being black, just like there's many ways to being white. — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
I remember distinctly not seeing myself. I didn't see myself in black culture, white culture, mass culture. — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
If I just wanted to put clean, perfect images of black people on the screen for an hour and a half, first… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
It is frustrating having to walk through America having to bob and weave people's impressions of me because they see a tall… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
It's called 'Dear White People,' but really, it's about these black characters and how they are involved or not involved in a… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
I talk about being a 'what' to people. Like, being gay in mainstream society is a different kind of 'what' than being… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
We like to think of the '60s as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and a little bit of friction -… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
I am more than a black guy. I am a person, I'm storyteller, I'm a son, I'm a friend, so I am… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
One of the facets of growing up the way I did, I never had the experience of being solely in the black… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
I am more than a black guy. I am a person, I'm storyteller, I'm a son, I'm a friend, so I am… — Justin Simien Copy Share Image
I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves. — Justin Simien Copy Share
I thought I was depressed because I wasn't a writer/director. I moved into a space where I'm a writer/director, my movie is a hit… — Justin Simien Copy Share
I saw 'Beauty and the Beast' at eight years old in theatres and spent hours trying to recreate the majestic imagery of that story… — Justin Simien Copy Share
I'm very interested in clans and the way people group together, and there's a lot of group shots. There's a lot of people in… — Justin Simien Copy Share
One of the things that I love about Robert Altman's movies is that, really, a Robert Altman movie is just a bunch of short… — Justin Simien Copy Share
I am more than a black guy. I am a person, I'm storyteller, I'm a son, I'm a friend, so I am all those… — Justin Simien Copy Share
There are a plethora of ways of being black, just like there's many ways to being white. — Justin Simien Copy Share
The way Hollywood and TV is, black people don't have any choice but to see ourselves in white-dominated television shows and stories and movies. — Justin Simien Copy Share
Everybody else was quoting 2Pac, and I was running around with Green Day in my Walkman. Racially speaking, I wasn't cool or appropriate for… — Justin Simien Copy Share
Self-doubt is a constant companion for a chubby, gay, black boy born in the South. — Justin Simien Copy Share
In the press, there's this desire for the black audience to be this monolithic thing that always responds to the same stars. That's a… — Justin Simien Copy Share
It is a fine line between making fun of the right thing and making fun of the wrong thing. And the language oftentimes is… — Justin Simien Copy Share
Hip-hop isn't dead by any means, but it's not something I define my black identity with. — Justin Simien Copy Share
I took an internship at Focus Features while I was in film school. I was really interested in how specialty movies were marketed and… — Justin Simien Copy Share
