It would be great to bust through and make history. But what's more important is the opportunity to continue to get roles that are complicated and wonderful, to be a part of the narrative and to get to do what our counterparts are able to do. It doesn't just stop at holding an award.

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Each role has its own different challenges.

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I’m a black woman who is from Central Falls, Rhode Island. I’m dark skinned. I’m quirky. I’m shy. I’m strong. I’m guarded. I’m weak at times. I’m sensual. I’m not overtly sexual. I am so many things in so many ways and I will never see myself on screen. And the reason I will never see myself up on screen is because that does not translate with being black.

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Relationships change us and make us grow.

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I think sometimes you have to see a physical manifestation of your dream. Otherwise you have to hope, pray and try to conjure something in your mind to feel like it's possible.

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Womanhood is you. Womanhood is everything that's inside of you.

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The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity.

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We as artists cannot be politicians. We as artists can only be truth-tellers.

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Let me tell you something: The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.

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Any actor will tell you, as soon as your ego and your vanity come into the mix, it destroys your work. Completely destroys it.

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