Top 40 Malik Yoba Quotes

I’ve never been the actor that’s waiting for a job. I always have 15,000 other things going on.

A lot of times, we don’t seek the help. If you come from a family where you might have been abused, a lot of times, particularly with males, regardless of what the ethnic background is there’s a sense of like ‘Just keep it moving.’

Accents are definitely one of my strong suits, and a lot of folks don’t know that.

It’s always nice when you see an email in your inbox that says ‘offer,’ then you read the email and go, ‘Oh, okay. Who’s doing it, what’s it about?’

Being a part of ‘Empire‘ was a wonderful experience and opportunity to work with everyone involved.

I break rules all the time.

I’m proud to be part of projects that literally change lives.

It’s important to show that fathers do cook for their children. Mine sure did.

If you go back and look at the pilot of ‘Seinfeld,’ no one would have thought that show would be what it became, and television isn’t given that kind of chance anymore.

To me, acting is simple. People put other things in front of it, but it’s staying in truth.

Fantasies are not always what people think they are.

My favorite scripture is, ‘Your gifts make room for you.’ It’s something I tell people all the time.

Baltimore obviously has a lot of problems, but there are people there that have a lot of promise.

I used to walk in the burnt up Harlem of the ’80s, and I’d look at brownstones that were dilapidated or apartment buildings, thinking ‘Whoever designed this and built this did not want it to look like this.’ So, I used to visualize one day being able to contribute and build in Harlem.

I come up from a music background.

I’m a rabble rouser, man!

When I’m doing a role the one thing I ask is ‘Is this believable? am I being truthful?’

I’ve always had a lot of gay friends; transgender friends.

As a black man, you learn at an early age the police are not your friends.

It’s not all about starring in a TV show for me. It’s about being able to provide opportunity and employment for other people.

When you do a pilot, you can’t always tell what you have.

From a genre perspective and a character perspective, you know, sky‘s the limit.

Being raised Muslim, we had to get up at the crack of dawn to pray. There was no sleeping in, no getting up Saturday morning to watch cartoons because there was no TV in the house. But you got up and you worked, cleaned the house.

I believe in making your own opportunity.

Baltimore and Detroit – they are solid cities.

I’m happy with getting older and getting more focused. I thought I was focused when I was young, but you’re only as focused as experience will allow you to be.

Don’t think because I’m a positive dude, I’m going to always say something nice. If you come at me crooked, one too many times or if too many people came at me crooked too many times in a row, then they’re going to get it. I don’t always exercise that self control and I don’t regret it either.

Playing Martin Luther King Jr. was an honor for me on so many levels. It was the most I’ve ever prepared for a role.

At the end of the day, there’s so much work that has to be done to impact positive change in any direction you look.

In my experience on ‘New York Undercover,’ where I played a dad, I was 26 years old, and I didn’t have kids then. And at that time, it would blow me away that people said they became a better parent because of watching my role on that TV show.

One of the reasons why I started creating my solo show is so that I have a place to put all of the accents that I do.

I’m a dad; I started a program for young men when my first child was born.

My experience has shown me that many people struggle with forgiveness of self and/or others.

At the end of the day, people like drama – if everything is great, no one wants to hear about that.

I knew that I wanted to create a restaurant like Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood that celebrated not just music or Hollywood, but who we were as people of color, as Caribbean, African, Cajun and Southern people.

Sometimes you have producers tell you ‘I’m a huge fan, I’m a huge fan.’ But David Guggenheim, I have so much love for this dude.

Most people haven‘t figured out when you are of service to other people outside of just yourself, the doorway for opportunity and blessings come in a very very different way.

I fear no one.

Success is putting one step in front of the other to get through that door whatever that door is.

We didn’t even have a T.V. in my house until I was 13. My dad called it the ‘idiot box.’