“Rosa Parks was primed, she had the Civil Rights Movement behind her, she didn’t just decide to sit on the bus, it was strategic.”

Very early on in this process though I studied acting in high school and college, soon after graduation,

As well as the one of the baddest women to literally ever walk the land. I surrendered to her spirit.

It was also incredibly serendipitous that I would later learn I shared a birthday with Whoop [Goldberg ].

An opportunity to honor the legacy of the lives drawn into the lines in my face, the broad of my nose.

Though I developed my own personal spiritual relationship later in life, the foundation they laid is what my faith was built upon.

When you understand the purpose [of life], then you can deal and journey through the obstacles, the rejections, the stops and starts, highs-and-lows with a different lens because you know that you’re moving in what you’re supposed to do.

Thank God for Canada! In the context of this narrative [in Underground] and beyond.

One of the first memories I have was watching Whoopi Goldberg perform her one-woman show on Broadway on HBO.

Canada was certainly an additional option for the many traveling the treacherous terrain of the Underground Railroad in pursuit of what was perceived as “freedom.”

The masterful work of the DP [Director of Photography] Kevin McKnight and his crew, and the layers and depths each actor goes to to ensure we the audience feel a human connection to these characters led me to sign my name on the dotted line.

Her spirit is one that we absolutely need today, as we face odds that are akin to the divisive and systemic oppression that we read about in our history books, but it’s taken on a modern-day articulation of itself.

I am indebted to [my grandmothers] always for cradling me in the heart of Christ and encouraging my passion to press towards the mark of the high calling on my life, wherever that takes me.

Once the Fugitive Slave Act took effect, the Northern states were no longer safe for those who managed to escape from being enslaved.

She moved seamlessly through an array of spirited and soul-stirring characters, each one holding a mirror up to me and allowing me in many ways to see a reflection of myself on screen.

The artistry on the show [ Underground] is apparent in each episode. From the riveting writing to the purposeful and precise direction.

I did my homework, of course, by inhaling as much literature as was available to find.

Most people don’t get out of childhood, or adolescence, without being wounded for telling the truth. Someone says ‘you can’t say that’ or ‘you shouldn’t say that’ or ‘that wasn’t appropriate’.

Even when I was still a child I cut out pictures of prams from newspapers and imagined the feeling of pushing my own pram through fresh winter snow and seeing the wheels’ tracks behind me in the snow.

The difference lies in the intention behind wanting money. Your reasons for why you want to create more money is typically why you’re ambitious to get it. You’re either genuinely ambitious or selfishly hungry.

Everyone moves for reason. You need a reason to leave everything behind.

Sometimes there aren’t reasons behind the terrible things that go on.

When you get on the boat that’s saving you, don’t pull up the ladder behind you

This cross-section of people they just happen to bring in to decide the fate of mankind on television is really scary.

He threw a lot of strikes, worked it inside and out, threw breaking balls for strikes behind in the count.