Usually cartoon characters stay a certain age; that's part of their appeal. Usually they don't grow up.
Cree Summer
I guess when you come from a supportive family they always expect the best of you.
Being in the body of an African-American woman, I prefer animation. I get to be everybody. I don't have to always be the white girl's best friend. I can be the princess. I can make an inanimate object come to life. I can be a little boy. I can be anything.
I was raised on an Indian reservation, and I didn't see a television set till I was 10, so it's not a part of my life.
I've always been proud to be different, I've always stood out like a sore thumb and I always have not given a damn.
I know to shut up when I don't know what I'm talking about.
With acting it was never a real passion or inspiration of mine.
My generation spends too much time in the mirror and not enough looking inside ourselves.
My father said, 'Let's raise our child in a paradise instead of a parking lot,' and that's what they did.
I like to look at the skyline and the moon.
I wanted to be in a rock band. That's all I ever wanted to do.
I was reading 'The Prophet' on my own when I was 10 years old.
I was in the 4th grade, and one day I didn't want to be in class. My father had just gotten a new Harley-Davidson, and he came and took me out of class. He said it was too beautiful to be indoors, so we stayed out all day.
When I'm working with strangers, I can get a little timid or scared. With friends, I'm willing to' try anything, because there's a lot of trust involved.
When I was 19 my friends dared me to come to Los Angeles and see if I could make it down here.
I'm appreciating the little bitty things that make me happy.
The Indians are a civilization wrought with culture and a beautiful, deep spirituality.
People say to me, 'Ooh, L.A. is so plastic.' Sure, it's mountains to the right, oceans to the left and pretense in the middle, but who... has to hang out in the middle?
I didn't know about competition until I got to school. I didn't know how degrading it was to be graded until I got to school.
I don't know a single black girl who's carefree because it ain't easy being a girl of color, period. God, I wish we were carefree.
A lot of political things would have to dramatically change in this planet for a woman of color to be carefree.
If anybody knows how to be friends, it's black women. We have been enslaved and had to care for each other and each other's babies and pick each other up in so many powerful ways. We know to take care of each other, we know how to be friends.
We need our HBCUs. The youth need our HBCUs. The elders need our HBCUs.
It it weren't for HBCUs, 'A Different World' wouldn't exist.
I always wanted to be a rock star.
I was never plunked in front of an idiot box because my parents had other things to do.
I'm really fascinated by the moon.
I'm just inspired by music.
I grew up in a house made out of mud.
I slept in closets and on floors for a long time.
My imagination works well because I didn't have a boob tube for a baby-sitter.
My journey is not to be a star but to become as aware a person as possible.
I worry about the environment. I'm very aware of what I eat, for example.
I want to continue acting as long as I feel right about it.
I started school in the 4th grade and it was a real drag.
When you hang out with yourself, you learn to keep yourself in check.
I know what it's like to have not and I know what it's like to have. I think I'm conscious of what I get and grateful.
Art is a gift and if nobody hears it, that doesn't make it any less of a gift.
My animation work is a major source of pride for me.
I've been singing since I was young.
