I don't claim to say, "All black women are like me," because they're not. One type of black woman can exist, but also another kind can exist. I also really hope that people feel permission to talk about their own troubles, but also to celebrate themselves. Sometimes I feel as though I'm trying to take a hit for the team so that other people then can move forward. I'm like, "Look, I just laid out all of my stuff, so what's the worst that can happen"?

I really hope that people feel permission to talk about their own troubles, but also to celebrate themselves.

I liked the idea of using this mega-star [Beyoncé ] to talk about all those things on the tiny scale of my life.

It's hard for black women to ask for help. We think we don't need it. We're used to being in pain and living with it.

I try to convey what it feels like and sounds like and smells like and looks like inside of my particular skin, to move through the world as a black American woman in her mid-twenties.

In my experience when I do try to avoid something, it makes its way into the work anyway. To be in front of it and just make friends with it is easier for me.

I've been thinking a lot about folks denying what has happened in history, or just not acknowledging it.