“I was determined to make a movie - about families and a love story - t...” — Salim Akil Quote

I was determined to make a movie - about families and a love story - that black women would be proud to see and which would depict them as being smart, loving, sensitive, sexy, and funny.

What I saw in Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce, even the villains, are aspects of myself.

America has a strange relationship with its racial memory. Death has always been a constant companion of black people.

African American culture is American culture.

Often, African-Americans' work is accepted as if we did something artistic by happenstance. It's almost like, 'They make TV shows the same way they dance. It's just natural!'

Part of having a social media strategy is being smart about whom you follow. Ask yourself who is important to your company or brand. Figure out who needs to know you exist.

And I desperately needed books that would take me out of my environment and show me a world where being smart and brave and prepared was more important than being cute or cheerful or knowing the right thing to say. And that's what science fiction and fantasy gave me.

Give your kid some credit for being smart - just because they read about something doesn't mean they will do it.

To me, it's about being smart, knowing when to go down and if you're on the sidelines knowing when to go out of bounds, and I think I do a pretty good job of doing that.