Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce, Thunder, and Lightning deserve their own show because they are not 'the other.' They are legitimate superheroes in their own right, and so they deserve the full breadth of exploration. That's what makes them worthy, and that's why they deserve it. They are not 'the other.' They are 'the the.'
I grew up, I had three uncles and... I loved Uncle Donald because he gave me dating advice, and I was, like, 5. But the other thing that I found fascinating about my Uncle Donald is he dressed up like a woman. And so I grew up around all of these men who dressed like women, so when I hear that, I don't hear a cause. I hear my family.
My mother, Betty, was an entertainer - she opened up for James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner - and I had an uncle who would work as a chef in a restaurant, 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4. I was young, so he could have been shorter, but in my mind, that's how tall he was.
When you're given a certain amount of power - like, you're a writer and an employed writer, and you put pen to paper, and people are going to read what you write - that's power.
I thought I was an actor until they pointed the camera at me.
If I see one kid dressed up like Thunder or Lightning or Black Lightning, I'll feel like I influenced the culture in a very positive way. That's the endgame for me. If this happens, my mission will be complete.
Black folk have been 'the other' in shows and movies and in life for quite a long time. Not from our perspective, we're not 'the other,' but from other people's perspective we have been 'the other.'
I think my big break was getting out of Richmond, California, alive.
A lot of African Americans, especially men, deal with this as a part of life. I've been pulled over by the police in my life, and I think I've only gotten a ticket once. It's just a part of everyday life, and it doesn't matter if you're in the car with your children or by yourself.
Michael Schultz's 'Cooley High' is a classic. Oftentimes, we don't get to see films about coming of age, especially for young African Americans.
I grew up around people with a bunch of serious problems.
I've worked in a mortuary and seen the consequences of what guns and knives do to people.
I never saw a true representation - an iconic hero - for myself. It just got boring, reading about all these really powerful and heroic white guys.
I always approach storytelling with the idea that the audience will get it. They understand almost better than we do, because they get to watch it from an entirely different perspective with new eyes.
If I'm walking down the street or taking my kids trick-or-treating, and I see some young girls or boys who are dressed up like Black Lightning, that, to me, would be success.
My wife asked me to marry her. But we did not jump the broom.
You can't protect your children from life.
There are so many families who do not come up in a traditional household. African Americans, Latins, and, I'm sure, whites as well, but there are a lot of men missing in African American communities and in Latin communities.
I know and understand the result of extreme violence in my own life, in my friends' lives, and so I know what violence really is.
If anyone sees anything in 'Black Lightning' that seems foreign to them, then they haven't been paying attention. This is a uniquely American experience.
