Season 1

“Happiness is something to look forward to.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Angie Richardson, Kylie Bunbury, imdb.com

“He's got something to look forward to. You have to find one too. That the trick of a happy life.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Angie Richardson, Kylie Bunbury, imdb.com

“All the guilt. It's lazy energy. It doesn't change the past and it doesn't shape the future.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Grace Cuffee, Suzzanne Douglas, imdb.com

“I know you seen things, maybe had to do things, defend yourself, survive, whatever might have happened. But in the end, you have the same heart.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Angie Richardson, Kylie Bunbury, imdb.com

“God knows he could use a boost right about now.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Delores Wise, Niecy Nash, imdb.com

“Yusef Salaam: People hate us out there. Sharon Salaam: They hate your brilliance. They hate your beauty. They hate us. But we not gonna hate ourselves.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Sharon Salaam, Aunjanue Ellis, imdb.com

“Don't ever think you're alone. I'm walking through this with you. You cry, I cry. You mad, I'm mad. You scared, I'm scared. You free, I'm free. You and me, always.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Linda McCray, Marsha Stephanie Blake, imdb.com

“If I had my way, you wouldn't have took him back.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Antron McCray, Jovan Adepo, imdb.com

“I love you enough to make up for everybody.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Linda McCray, Marsha Stephanie Blake, imdb.com

“I'm trying to treat it right, ya know?”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Young Raymond Santana, Marquis Rodriguez, imdb.com

“You keep listening to those footsteps, baby. That's me coming to bring you home.”

— Robin Swicord, Ava DuVernay, Linda McCray, Marsha Stephanie Blake, imdb.com

“I'd come everyday if they let me.”

— Ava DuVernay, Robin Swicord, Linda McCray, Marsha Stephanie Blake, imdb.com

“You watch them grow. You start to think you did a good job. And then one night you look away.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Sharon Salaam, Aunjanue Ellis, imdb.com

“They said if I was there and if I went along with it, that I could go home. And that's all I wanted. That's all I wanted, was to go home. That's all I still want.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Korey Wise, Jharrel Jerome, imdb.com

“I was trying to protect him. Help him. Trying to save him.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Bobby McCray, Michael Kenneth Williams, imdb.com

“A'ight, here's the plan: you take out the guards, I steal us a car, we'd be in Mexico in a few days.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Young Antron McCray, Caleel Harris, imdb.com

“If we don't believe man, we already lost.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Young Antron McCray, Caleel Harris, imdb.com

“It's about politics. And politics is about survival.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Mickey Joseph, Joshua Jackson, imdb.com

“I want to sleep in my own bed so bad.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Young Raymond Santana, Marquis Rodriguez, imdb.com

“The eyes see, but it cannot see itself.”

— Julian Breece, Ava DuVernay, Linda Fairstein, Felicity Huffman, imdb.com