Jurnee Smollett

But really, for me, I tried to find first-person accounts. I tried to read stories from men and women who had survived…

— Jurnee Smollett

There are so many people who will try and make you feel like your opinion doesn't matter, and I've learned how important…

— Jurnee Smollett

You go through those awkward, dorky, geeky stages, and growing up in the industry amplifies all that. Fortunately, I have a mother…

— Jurnee Smollett

When I was younger, I really struggled with confidence. You go through those awkward, dorky, geeky stages, and growing up in the…

— Jurnee Smollett

I read slave narratives, books like Bullwhip Days, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. [The Root's chairman] Henry Louis Gates…

— Jurnee Smollett

Fortunately, I come from an activist mother, so I didn't have to rely on the history books. The history books teach us…

— Jurnee Smollett

Maybe you should think about the choices in your life, how someone can come and spit some kind of game to you…

— Jurnee Smollett

When I was younger, I really struggled with confidence.

— Jurnee Smollett

One of the most tragic things about slavery was the mental enslavement, the way they made us believe that we were worth…

— Jurnee Smollett

Never let anyone silence your voice.

— Jurnee Smollett

For me, seeing our history told in this light, the ones who did rebel, the ones who did revolt, the revolutionaries, excited…

— Jurnee Smollett

There's a level of shame attached to our history, and we need to replace that shame with pride and own our history.…

— Jurnee Smollett

I don't really think about the critics or the commercial success.

— Jurnee Smollett

As an artist, you want to stretch. That's the only way you're going to grow. If I stay inside my comfort zone,…

— Jurnee Smollett