Perhaps the single most important thing for a child is to be with a loving, supportive family. And all things being equal, any child of any race should be placed with any qualified parents without restriction or special conditions. – John Ridley
Even I haven’t downed enough L.A. Kool-Aid to believe that somehow Hollywood movies are an overt instrument of morality. – John Ridley
White folks, no matter how well-meaning or open-minded, have no true idea what it’s like to be black in America. That’s not a slam against white people or an accusation of latent bigotry. But the fact is that we all live in an Anglo-dominated society. – John Ridley
Facts tend to take the punch out of a good hate rant and are therefore left best unsaid. – John Ridley
Gay marriage will be universally accepted in time. But if I may be so bold as to say to gays and lesbians, don’t wait for that time to arrive. Just as my father and his generation did not ‘wait’ for their civil rights, nor should you. The toothpaste ain’t going back in the tube. The tide has turned. – John Ridley
I didn’t know I was a good director, and I mean that sincerely. I had done a film a long time ago called ‘Cold Around the Heart.’ Nobody saw it, and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted to. – John Ridley
Writing a screenplay needs to be more than words on a page – and by the way, I think the words on the page are something you have to try to execute on the highest level you can; I’m not dismissing that by any regard. – John Ridley
If some of us can get an Oscar for extolling that it’s hard out there for a pimp, why can’t others of us admonish: ‘Then quit acting like a pimp’? – John Ridley
When times are tough, people want to escape to somewhere fantastic without having to pay actual escape-to-somewhere-fantastic cash. And offering a couple of hours away from the ordinary is what the movies do best. – John Ridley
I don’t really have anything against the French except that, as an American, I’ve been bred to despise them with the same zeal as soccer and Renny Harlin films. – John Ridley
There’s no disputing that for pols, the Internet is a great way to connect with people and raise some cash and post ‘Sopranos’ parodies or play your opponent’s macaca moments. But in a ‘net root’ sense, it’s pretty useless for getting someone elected. – John Ridley
Oh, happy day when the enemies of ascendancy have got to confess that people of color rock. – John Ridley
While most trudge through their days straight-jacketed in the social compact, living for others as much as or more than for themselves, a select few excel. – John Ridley
I’m sorry, but chick fights are sexy. If you don’t think so, you’re either an uptight woman or a lying man. – John Ridley
At the risk of sounding like that old guy in ‘Gran Torino’ telling those ‘young punks’ to ‘get off my lawn,’ it’s gotten to the point that whenever I hear somebody talking about Twitter or twittering or tweeting, it just makes my little tummy want to hurl. – John Ridley
There are still some people out there who believe comic books are nothing more than, well, comic books. But the true cognoscenti know graphic novels are – at their best – an amazing blend of art literature and the theater of the mind. – John Ridley
I don’t know what’s hipper: to Facebook or to Twitter. I just know for me, personally, discretion never went out of style. – John Ridley
Much as banks don’t care where your money’s coming from, the Electoral College is all ‘don’t ask, don’t care’ when it comes to votes. – John Ridley
Slavery was not a bad day on the job. It was not your boss yelling at you. It was not hard work for little pay. This was a full system of human subjugation. – John Ridley
Until politicos take a true stand in defense of marriage by proposing an anti-adultery amendment to the Constitution, stop demonizing gays and lesbians when the one debasing your marriage is the individual in the mirror. – John Ridley
‘The Martin Show,’ the ‘Jamie Foxx show,’ ‘Living Single,’ ‘The Wayans Brothers,’ ‘Hanging with Mr. Cooper…’ Some of these shows were good, some were typical television, but they facilitated a lot of work for blacks in front of as well as behind the camera. A lot of us in Hollywood thought it was the beginning of a real racial breakthrough. – John Ridley
In every election cycle that I can recall, there comes a moment – or a few – where charges of elitism and claims of commonness are wielded by presidential candidates like a sword and shield: ‘Vote for me ’cause I’m one of you. It’s the other guy who’s out of touch.’ – John Ridley
Bad news: Complainers are rewarded for complaining. Indicative of the victim culture in which we live, people have not only come to expect something for nothing, but are then rewarded for how loudly they can ventilate their sense of having been victims of fraud. – John Ridley
So, is Hollywood anti-religion? Not in my opinion. But unlike, say, politicians and preachers who talk faith before going off to speak in tongues to their mistresses, Hollywood just doesn’t wear its faith on its sleeve. – John Ridley
Obama is the New Generation and the hot light of a dawn that goes way beyond clever talk of morning in America. – John Ridley
Why don’t we hear more about and from Asians when it comes to race in America? Are Asians the new Invisible Man – there but not there? In some ways, yeah. Blacks and whites are always carping about the metrics of racism. And any conversation about immigration reform is immediately flipped into a referendum on Hispanics. – John Ridley
To this day, the only argument against Obama that critics can seem to come up with involves admitting he’s better than them – though they certainly season it with some racism. You know, he’s that lucky black man who actually appeals to the populace. He’s that elitist who got himself off food stamps and into Harvard. – John Ridley
Yes, it’s hard to stay in shape, but it’s also hard to raise kids. That doesn’t mean you get to drop them off at your local fire station when they get to be a handful. – John Ridley