I think that there's something just so important about the book and the show in terms of what they say about Black families, especially in the cultural climate and moment that we're in. I would love to hear more about that: Was it important to say, “This is my family as a Black woman?"

“Absolutely. I think even more so now than ever. I continue to talk to my kids. We had three girls first and three boys second. The oldest boy is still young; he's 10. The girls are getting older, and I often talk to them about their experiences in life. ‘You are experiencing your life from the perspective of a Black woman. You don't know it yet, at least when you’re younger, but people see you as a Black woman, so they interact with you in that way. There are things that you experience that someone who is your friend who is not a Black woman is never going to experience, because that's not how the world is interacting with that person.’ This is really important, and I feel like especially with Black people — we have all different shades of skin and hair texture and colors — and even in our own community, a hierarchy of who is prettier, good hair, and all those things. We both really try to talk to our kids about not just our experiences, but things that they could potentially experience. I think what Kenya's been able to do so great with the show is really taking things that we've experienced and things that we go through and putting it out there and having some type of resolution, but it's not right or wrong."