ESSENCE'S May 45th Anniversary Cover stars 5 influential Black women who are leading in Hollywood.
Ava Duvernay ("Selma"), Shonda Rhimes ("HTGAWM"), Debbie Allen "Scandal", "Empire", Issa Rae the "Awkward Black Girl", and Mara Brock Akil ("Being Mary Jane")
Golden-Globe nominee Ava DuVernay tweeted saying, "I hope someone sees this and thinks: "I will live the life I choose." Love to Mara, Shonda, Issa + Queen Debbie. xo."
Readinf the mag Shonda Rhimes spells against the tag Rise of Black women directors
"It's an economic fact. There are more people of color than ever before...When the shows start doing bigger numbers than what they think are going to be their top ten shows, it becomes really hard to suggest that it's a trend."Shonda chimes, "Literally everybody's starring in a pilot. I think that's wonderful. Part of me thinks, Well that's wildly racist of all the networks to suddenly decide that the best way to get a show on the air is to just throw a Black woman on it. Yet part of me feels like, For God's sake, it's about time! If they're going to be stupid, let's use their stupidity..."
Ava said, "Of course that has to happen. But it is more about people working autonomously, independently, to create their own structures, mechanisms, companies, outlets. Look at you, Issa—nobody was giving you anything, so you created your own work and your own platform and your own way to distribute."Aeteran Debbie Allen, is optimistic about the future "I look at it as an opportunity. It is wide open and for the taking. When I first started, there were no women in the room, there were no Black people in the room."
Photo credit
Ava DuVernay Twitter/Ava DuVernay Instagram
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