Our Kind of People (TV Series)

The Miseducation of the Negro (2021)

Nadine Ellis: Leah Franklin-Dupont

Quotes 

• Angela Vaughn : Keep hearing the Graceties talk about all the college counselors that'll be at cotillion. Nikki needs access to them.

  Leah Franklin-Dupont : I can't just add a new debutante to the roster. I mean, there are rules and protocols.

  Angela Vaughn : [SCOFFS]  That sounds like some B.S. put in place to keep the common folk out.

  Leah Franklin-Dupont : Mm. Well, something tells me the common folk wouldn't just let Nikki show up and jump the line, either.

  Angela Vaughn : She can't jump a line she was never allowed into in the first place. Look, Leah, Nikki has been busting her butt with the single-minded dream of getting into Spelman one day. I mean, I feel like I haven't done my part. I didn't know. I was so busy trying to get Eve's Crown going. Maybe I should've spent that time looking for ways to expand her horizons, or send her on trips, or...

  Leah Franklin-Dupont : Or doing a million other things. I get it. I often feel like I'm failing as a mom, too.

  Angela Vaughn : I know I'm late with all this, but I need to set Nikki up for success. Cotillion will help.

  Leah Franklin-Dupont : Well, how could I deny my niece this opportunity? But the only way that she could be announced with the class on Friday at the Claiming Ceremony is if you make a contribution. And the minimum standard is $25,000. And that's not including formal wear, hair and make-up, shoes and accessories. Do you need help with that?

  Angela Vaughn : No. No. I've got the money.

  Leah Franklin-Dupont : Wonderful. So, who can we expect at your table? My calligrapher needs it for the place cards.

  Angela Vaughn : Well, uh, just me and my Aunt Piggy two G's. And a big ol' check for 25 G's.

• Leah Franklin-Dupont : Ladies, understanding your place settings is more than just figuring out which fork to use. Remember, you cannot be kept out of a room when you are confident that you belong. Take it from me. Now, watch closely.

• Leah Franklin-Dupont : Understood? When you are as comfortable dining with royalty as you are at home, no banquet hall, no matter how imposing, will ever intimidate you.

• Leah Franklin-Dupont : Uh, what's happening here? I mean, this is supposed to be the father-daughter rehearsal.

  Angela Vaughn : I know, but we don't need a man. I raised her with my own two hands, fed her with my own two breasts, and this weekend, I will dance with her with my own two feet.

  Leah Franklin-Dupont : Hmm. Well, you know, as detailed and inspiring as that is, she's gonna need a male companion.

• Olivia Dupont : Back in my day, a wife knew her place. At her husband's side, supporting him.

  Leah Franklin-Dupont : Well, it's not back in "your day. " And times have changed.

  Olivia Dupont : Change is not always progress. Look at how slavery became Jim Crow and then segregation

• Leah Franklin-Dupont : I don't know which makes me feel worse, seeing you behave with such selfish cruelty or knowing that I'm the one who made you that way.

• Leah Franklin-Dupont : Your insistence on hijacking this week to serve your worst impulses when we should be lifting each other up it needs to stop now.