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“I just want to see more of us on screen, because Black History Month is a month, but black people are forever, and they’ve always been forever.” —Kofi Siriboe

Aldis Hodge, Underground

“Black Wall Street. I think it's very important for black culture in America that black Americans to understand that not only is there intelligence and affluence in our culture's roots, but also financial responsibility, financial security, and financial establishment. And even though it was torn and taken away from us, at a point we still built it up in some ways. I’m not saying that there aren't any rich black people in this country, but the idea of being rich and successful tied to being black has not yet come together as a normal thing. And it needs to continually be reiterated throughout our culture, because black kids grow up understanding and feeling like, ‘There's a higher bar set for me, regardless of where I start this is where I'm supposed to be at because this is where my culture lives.’ The idea of our culture being successful isn't natural, and that's what younger black kids need to know.

“That's what a great film like Hidden Figures establishes. You know, intelligence — you don't have to be exorbitantly intelligent or privileged to create great things. Intelligence starts from having a passion and following through and putting in the work. Putting in the work is intelligence. They think you have to be born brilliant. No, you are brilliant, you just need to do the work to figure it out. But we need more examples of that, and you know, when it comes to Underground, there's strength in what we accomplish. There's strength in our pain, there's strength in the things that we go through, but the only way that we can honor that strength is to get through it and do better, so yeah, Black Wall Street, for sure.”

John Parra / Via Getty Images

Misha Green, Showrunner for Underground

“You know, to be honest, I would really like to explore the Jim Crow era, because I think that a lot of people are like, 'Oh, it's the Jim Crow South,' and you're like 'No, it wasn't just the Jim Crow South,' so I think there's a lot of that that's shrouded in mystery too.”

John Parra / Via Getty Images

Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Underground

“Oh my gosh, I mean, we have such a rich history. I think Ida B. Wells' story — she was such an incredible woman, such a soldier for truth and justice. Someone like her, and you think of other men and women who put their lives at risk…and that's one thing I love so much about Underground is the stakes are so high, and it's not because it's TV and writing dramatic stakes, it's because truth is stranger than fiction, unfortunately. These people put their lives at risk for us, and it's mind-boggling. We owe them so much, because you have to ask the question 'Would we have the courage to do that?' I mean, it takes a lot for us to just get up and be very active in our community, and we've moved so far, but life was so different back then, and it humbles me.”

John Parra / Via Getty Images

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