Happy Birthday, Victoria Dillard: Fem Film Icon Spotlight

 

Killer face card winner Victoria Dillard.

Happy birthday to our Fem Film Rogue Icon Victoria Dillard, the It Girl of the 1990’s. Memorable lean, statuesque, and gorgeous with a distinctive voice, phenomenal grace, and impressive talents in both drama and comedy, Dillard’s sassy vixen characters lit the silver and big screen. She starred in roles alongside elite Black Hollywood names— Denzel Washington, Lawrence Fishbourne, Alfre Woodard, Kimberly Elise, Monica Calhoun, and LL Cool J. 

Victoria Dillard got to move around a few gorgeous seconds as a ballerina on a starship.

New York born and raised Victoria Dillard was a born graceful entertainer, dancing with the Dance Theatre of Harlem from age five to eighteen. Her first onscreen IMDb credit was a nameless star fleet crew member who imagined herself as a ballerina in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s season one’s sixth episode, Where No One Has Gone Before. She spoke no dialogue. 

Beautiful Victoria stealing the film in Coming to America.

Dillard’s next role as a scandalous nameless royal bather / dancer utters a foul line that only misogyny could write in Coming to America. It may have left behind a bitter taste, something of which reveals how brown and darker skinned women (including Vanessa Bell Calloway and Allison Dean) are portrayed through the problematic Black male gaze. However, at only twenty-one-years-old, Dillard was an undeniably captivating beauty who ate up the screen time. 

Alice in Ricochet. DP: Peter Levy.

Alice and Nick Styles cover Upscale Magazine. DP: Peter Levy.

Kiss for good luck. DP: Peter Levy.

Alice and Nick. DP: Peter Levy.

Afterwards, Dillard costarred in Ricochet as Denzel Washington’s wife, Alice Styles. Although the other women in the film have jobs and careers including the sex worker who assaults her husband, rookie cop turned charismatic D. A. attorney Nick Styles, little else is known about Alice other than being a woman who once loved reading classic literature before becoming doting wife and mother. Her every scene revolves around Nick or the children, having no other identity beyond this. Yet, there’s a promising degree in Dillard’s graceful performance as Alice’s life unravels when an obsessed nemesis from Nick’s past threatens the moral integrity of their tight family unit. 

Betty McCutchen’s Art and Africa Gallery in Deep Cover. DP: Bijan Bezzali.

Betty (Victoria Dillard) and David (Jeff Goldblum) in Deep Cover. DP: Bijan Bizzeli.

Terrified Betty believing her life was in danger. DP: Bijan Bezzali.

Betty (Victoria Dillard) cupping Russell’s (Laurence Fishbourne) face in her place of business. DP: Bijan Bizzeli.

Dillard then worked with brilliant Black filmmakers the great Bill Duke and the renowned Oscar inductee Charles Burnett (a favorite). 

In Duke’s stylishly sleek police thriller Deep Cover, Dillard plays sophisticated art dealer Betty McCutcheon who specializes in African art and artifacts and has a taste for fine, high-class things including drugs. Although Dillard’s character arrives midway through the film, she has commendable chemistry with Laurence Fishbourne and Jeff Goldblum, holding her own against two acting heavyweights. 

Barbara (Victoria Dillard) dropping her man J. J. (Michael Boatman) off at his new job. DP: Elliot Davis. 

A kiss for good luck. DP: Elliot Davis. 

At a wedding, family members hope J. J. will pop the question and it seems that a wistful Barbara feels the same. DP: Elliot Davis.

Barbara overhears J. J. saying that she isn’t going anywhere. *sighs* DP: Elliot Davis. 

Whereas in Burnett’s police drama The Glass Shield, Dillard plays Barbara Simms the supportive girlfriend of new cop J. J. Johnson (Michael Boatman, Dillard’s future costar in Spin City). This rough, gritty film digs in deep about a racist, sexist police department and one man’s desire to be liked by terrible men as a smart, determined defense team takes them down. While Barbara obviously wants to get married, having been tired of waiting, she’s by J. J.’s side at a rigged trial, witnessing the testimonies with a wary eye. By the end, she’s disappointed by her man’s actions and holds him accountable yet still wraps him up in a tender, loving embrace as he cries. Dillard’s performance offers a salve against the horrendous corruption taking place, her soft kindness a highlight. 

Janelle Cooper was a constant breath of fresh air on Spin City, bouncing off Michael J. Fox’s Mike Flaherty so well. The show was never the same once they left in season four, Michael leaving due to his Parkinson’s diagnosis which Victoria Dillard would soon be diagnosed with.

On the sitcom Spin City, Dillard played the snazzy assistant Janelle Cooper who didn’t always have a lot of lines, but packed a punch whenever the cameras laid upon her. Dillard also worked with three women filmmakers: Carol Mayes TV movie Commitments costarring Allen Payne and the late Virginia Capers, Debbi Allen’s Out of Sync costarring LL Cool J, and Nandi Bowe’s hard-to-find short film Statistically Speaking (adding to this list) costarring Alfre Woodard and the late Roxie Roker.

Fox Giovanni in Carol Mayes’s BET TV film Commitments was such a well-rounded character and gave Dillard an opportunity to prove herself as its leading star. DP: John L. Demps Jr.

With only twenty-seven credits to her name and no awards nominations (not even the NAACP Image Awards), the former actress now advocate for Parkinson’s research was diagnosed with the disease at thirty-eight-years-old, right during the cusp of her brilliant career. Like Lark Voorhies and Lisa Nicole Carson, Victoria Dillard continues the brave conversation Black actresses are sharing on the darker side of having health complications in Hollywood, how noticeable bodily events not only affects their personal lives, it is a career killer preventing them from advancing onto bigger, juicier roles. Definitely seems that Black women have a more challenging time because they must be perfect at every age. They’re not offered the same grace. 

Dillard still dances whenever she can, not letting this neurological diagnosis take away the dignified strength that has been ingrained since her upbringing. Although most of her roles were supporting and she barely had prominent magazine articles or news features, Dillard remains a significant part of Black culture, a strong, gracious presence whose beloved characters could be vulnerable, soft, intelligent, funny, and insightful. 

Victoria Dillard will always be appreciated and loved. 

Victoria Dillard for American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA).

Victoria Dillard for American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA). 

Victoria Dillard for American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA).

Victoria Dillard Quote

“I know that I can’t expect it to be the same way everyday. I might have different tremors that affect me more than other days. Parkinson’s has inspired me to be realistic, authentic, and honest about my day to day life, my day to day challenges.”

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Aaliyah: Fem Film Icon Spotlight

 

Aaliyah, photographed by Joe Wright.

Aaliyah Dana Haughton. 

Every time this January date arrives, it remains hard to stop imagining what would have happened if Aaliyah were still alive, still blessing us with edgy music and sleek dancing as well as advancing in her acting career. She had an incredibly layered vocal range coated in honey tinged softness— and she held back a lot, didn’t let us hear the full capacity of her depth. Furthermore, her screen presence delivered vivacious elegance in both her own classic music videos and in the cameos she brought to her friends Lil Kim and Missy Elliott— a unique style combination blending urban aesthetics with sophisticated fashion. She was in a class all her own, often duplicated yet no one else compared.  

Aaliyah singing on Star Search. 

Born on the same day as one of her favorite singers the enigmatic Sade, Aaliyah first performed at age ten on Star Search, choosing a sweet and hearty rendition of My Funny Valentine. Her loss to her competitor became our eventual gain. She would release three albums—two of which remain on heavy rotation ever since the days of middle school when the kids were performing the One in a Million beat on the cafeteria tables. Hard to believe that that iconic song did not win a Grammy (nor any other Aaliyah effort) proving that the show doesn’t always have the best musical record. She came out with an air of mystery, eye covered by a fringe of dark hair, soft spoken and articulate, effortlessly beautiful. 

Aaliyah was that 90’s cover girl from Sophisticated Black Hair to Teen Vogue. 

On the verge of pending stardom, Aaliyah starred in only two feature-length films— Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Damned, both directed and written by men. Even though this almost mirrors her musical history (with the abuser producer of her debut and Timbaland who has said weird comments about her), it was always wonderful seeing her with other incredible women— Missy Elliot, Lil Kim, 702, Changing Faces, Da Brat. She was set to star in the two Matrix sequels, Honey, and Sparkle— a film produced by Whitney Houston who looked forward to working with her. If only she had been supported and cared for, Aaliyah would have remained an unstoppable force, continued to be everywhere, smiling with such an infectious grace. 

Aaliyah in the Matrix sequels (scenes were reshot with her replacement Nona Gaye), as Trish O’Day in Romeo Must Die, and Akasha in Queen of the Damned

On August 25, 2001, the world lost the commendable Aaliyah in an awful, terrible way. During that time, we had been utterly riveted by her interviews—her excitable nature, her esteemed intelligence, her sweet humor, and her supreme modesty. She desired to branch out, to explore her artistry— testing out new sounds, playing new roles— the true sentiment of an entertainer. 

And although she didn’t get to show us as much as she hoped, we are forever grateful for what we received from her. 

Memorable Aaliyah quotes:

“Keep working hard and you can get anything that you want. If God gave you the talent, you should go for it. But don't think it's going to be easy. It's hard!”

“When I'm long gone, I want to be remembered not just as an actress or singer, but as a full-on entertainer.”

“I stay true to myself and my style, and I am always pushing myself to be aware of that and be original.”

“You have to enjoy your job; you should wake up every day and love what you do... I honestly do... From the bottom of my heart to the depths of my soul. I'm truly happy.”

Happy Birthday, Lorraine Touissaint: Fem Film Rogue Icon Spotlight

 

Lorraine Touissaint’s headshot, 1992.

You know a film or television series will be especially wonderful if among the cast includes brilliant Lorraine Touissaint, a Trinidadian-born, Juilliard School graduate. It’s been high time to give her flowers. 

Ten years ago, Joe Reid wrote this Atlantic article, Five Essential Performances By ‘Orange is the New Black’ Standout Lorraine Touissaint, highlighting Touissaint’s contributions to the silver and big screen. Touissaint spent ten years on the New York theater stages before obtaining her first television role as Vera Williams on the soap opera One Life To Live. Her warm presence calls to mind that of the late Mary Alice mixed with the regal elegance of Cicely Tyson. She has the power to brew beneath her characters and come out sharp and strong, delivering her words with esteemed clarity.

However, Touissaint has yet to lead a big grand picture and definitely deserves that. She should be in rooms, talked about and given cover opportunities showcasing her distinctive smile. 

Then again, history continues to repeat itself— Black women actresses remain relegated to supporting roles, as crutches to primary white counterparts. Fortunately, Touissaint will always eat up her screen time. Her presence is meaningful and memorable no matter how many minutes she’s allotted. She could be the most insensitive mother in Middle of Nowhere or the most gentle grandmother in Fast Color. Even her short moments in RZA’s Love Beats Rhymes as Azealia Banks’s character Coco’s restaurant running mama Nichelle are divine perfection. She lit up a whole murky screenplay. The unique sound of her voice is part of her craft, her signature, able to wield soft sincerity and wisdom while also forcing us to take two steps backward, fear her wrath and fury. 

Nancy Miller and Deborah Joy DeVine’s Lifetime drama series Any Day Now stars Lorraine Touissaint and Annie Potts. Touissaint and Potts grace the cover of Philadelphia Inquirer’s TV Week, August 23-29, 1998.

Inside contents: Lorraine Touissaint as adult Rene and Annie Potts as adult Elizabeth on the left, Shari Dyon Perry as young Rene and Mae Middleton as young Elizabeth on the right. 

Touissaint bloomed on the Lifetime series Any Day Now co-starring with Annie Potts. Her lucrative television résumé eventually stretched into various different dramas— Frasier, Crossing Jordan, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Forever, Friday Night Lights, Orange Is the New Black, Rosewood, and Young and the Restless. Her voice has been heard in animated series such as Static Shock, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Summer Camp Island. She’s starred in two TV movie adaptations co-starring Oscar winner Halle Berry— Queen based on the 1993 novel by Alex Haley and David Stevens loosely based on Haley’s grandmother and Darnell Martin’s Their Eyes Were Watching God based on Zora Neale Hurston’s powerful 1937 novel.

Lorraine Touissaint and Allison Jones star in the 1996 film Nightjohn directed by Charles Burnett (To Sleep With Anger, Killer Sheep), DP: Elliot Davis (Something Wicked This Way Comes, Get On the Bus, and Out of Sight). The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Over the years, on the film side of life, Touissaint has worked with prominent women directors such as Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere and Selma), Julia Hart (Fast Color), and Maggie Greenfield (Sophie and the Rising Sun), and Dianne Houston (Runaway Island), the first and only Black woman to be nominated for a filmmaker Oscar (Tuesday Morning Ride, short film). Another favorite Touissaint performance was Grandma Marley from Jenn Shaw’s 2023 short film Gaps, highlighted here in my essay at Carefree Mag. Hopefully it becomes a full-length feature. Touissaint has also received accolades from the Black Reel, Black Film Critics Circle, Critics Choice, the Chlotrudis, Screen Actors Guild, and Essence Black Women in Hollywood and nominations from the NAACP Image (six so far), Independent Spirit, and the EwWy (renamed Poppy) Awards. 

Touissaint in Oscar winning film Selma. DP: Bradford Young. 

Of Selma, Touissaint shared in Collider that her small role as the late civil rights activist Amelia Boynton was meant to be bigger:

“Pivotal scenes of mine were cut, that would have helped explain her in a better way. We don’t really know that she’s the character that invited Martin to Selma, and that she is the one that almost single-handedly had been prepping this community for years. She was relentlessly registering people to vote, and holding secret night classes to tutor the voters. She was prepping this community and building up the pressure in it, very quietly. By the time you meet her, she had been arrested countless times.”

Currently, Touissaint stars in the Equalizer TV series alongside Queen Latifah and will be in Todd Strauss-Schulson’s Silent Retreat co-starring with Dennis Haysbert and Larry Owens (Zach on Abbott Elementary). 

Touissaint plays Aunt Viola “Vi” Marsette to Queen Latifah’s Robyn McCall in the CBS series Equalizer. Maybe a future essay would compare Touissaint’s Aunt Vi with Tina Lifford’s Aunt “Vi” Violet Bordelon-Desonier on Queen Sugar, 2016-2022.

Other profound Lorraine Touissaint Quotes:

"Often times, the business is designed to make us feel powerless. I learned early on the power of [saying] 'no.' And as difficult as it has been, especially early on in your career, I knew that there was power in it. There are just some things that I just say no to." (BUILD Series, 2019)

“ I had an extraordinary mother who at 10, I said—I didn’t grow up with a TV—at 10, I said I want to be an actress. When everyone else in my family laughed, my mother did not. She’s the one who taught to live and ultimately taught me how to die.” (Essence, 2020)

“I don't take those kinds of compliments for granted, because there aren't a lot of roles being offered to African American women, especially age forty and above. I don't think there are enough roles in the media like Rene Jackson. But, I'm hopeful because the fact that our show exists is testament that things are changing, and I believe the networks are paying very close attention to our little show on cable.” (answer to a CNN.com transcript response regarding her “intelligent Black female portrayal” in Any Day Now, 2001)

Happy Birthday, Euzhan Palcy: Fem Film Rogue Icon Spotlight

 

Behind the scenes with Euzhan Palcy.

Euzhan Palcy, an incredible history making filmmaker deserves to be celebrated. Viola Davis said in a powerful introductory speech at the Honorary Oscars ceremony that Palcy is a woman of many firsts, that she did never sacrificed her blackness or womanhood. In the filmmaking field, it takes bravery and courage to get behind the camera and decide as a Black woman to tell evocative Black stories surpassing all genres. As a Black director controlling the Black image— historically almost always white, especially in biopics and blackploitation— Palcy sought to turn the tables in the cinematic medium, pushing out African diaspora in memorably prolific masterpieces.  

Euzhan Palcy with her much deserved honorary Oscar.

Born and raised in Martinique of the French West Indies, Palcy studied French literature and theater at the University of Paris (also called the Sorbonne) and art and archaeology and film/cinematography at the Louis-Lumière College. After The Messenger, a 1975 TV film set in her native Martinique and The Devil’s Workshop, a 1982 short, Palcy’s first major film Sugar Cane Alley— made for a million dollars with help from the French government— placed her on the filmmaking map. Based on Joseph Zobel’s semi-autobiographical Black Shack Alley novel, Palcy’s revolutionary work focuses on the grave injustices white landowners placed on Black sugar cane farmers in 1930’s Martinique. The protagonist young José lives with his grandmother Ma’Tine, witnessing generation after generation of the overworked, beaten Black farmers regardless of their age and health. Sugar Cane Alley— edited by the award-winning Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte— won many awards including the Best Work Award at the Cesar Awards, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Darling Légitimus, and the Public Award at The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou held in Burkina Faso. 

Euzhan Palcy between Marlon Brando (Ian) and Donald Sutherland (Ben) in the barrister’s office scene. 

A Dry White Season, Palcy’s second feature-length starring Donald Sutherland, Marlon Brando, and Zakes Mokae, exposes South Africa’s brutal, ugly past— the unforgettably evil apartheid. The story unfolds rather quickly— showcasing the idle pleasantries of upper crust white lives versus the precarious uncertainty of peacefully protesting Black people. Even Black children are not safe from vicious political reign. Ben, the oblivious white professor, sees his country for what it is, influencing his young impressionable son Jonathan in the process. Everyone else including his own wife and treacherous elder daughter sees Ben as a traitor— all because he knows that killing Black senselessly is wrong! In Palcy’s film, there are no roses placed on the truth— it is bloody, violent, and heartbreaking. 

Palcy’s other works include the NAACP Image Award nominated Ruby Bridges for the Wonderful World of Disney, the documentary Hassane (“How Are the Kids”), and various shorts, TV films, and TV episodes. Throughout her career of bold, eye-opening risks, Palcy has explored the definition of the globalized experience, highlighting the devastating consequences that colonialism left behind in every nook and cranny of our world, of our tarnished history. 

Behind the scenes with Euzhan. 

Euzhan in action. 

The inspiring Euzhan Palcy— the first to direct a Hollywood film, the first Black filmmaker to win the coveted French Cesar Award and Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, a Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association, the Sojourner Truth Award from Cannes Film Festival, and wins at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Durban International Film Festival, and etc.— is a profound testament of commendable strength and diligence. The film industry is a very difficult road to navigate, especially for a Black woman, prone to working with low budgets, awards snubs, and every roadblock in between. That’s why in 2023, there remains a select few that please these juries/voters/guilds still stuck in a certain time, a time that is more often exclusive than inclusive. 

Although no official word yet on if Palcy is working on new projects, there is an audience interested in her past films and whatever comes next. 

Strong, insightful quotes to really think about by Euzhan Palcy:

“I wanted to make a Black story about South Africa. Unfortunately, no producer in Hollywood would put one penny into a Black story.” 

“Some people make movies for money or glory and will take any subject people offer them. But I cannot do that. I need to feel the story and make it mine.” 

“There are many projects I couldn’t get off the ground because they didn’t have white heroes. It’s a problem that everyone who’s been working in Hollywood has been facing.” 

“No one enters this stage alone. I would not be here without the wisdom and love from all those who joined me in my journey. My heart is bursting right now thinking about my grandmother, of my dad, of my mother, and my godmother and godfathers…” 

“Many have asked me why for a time I stepped back from a career that I love. I stepped back so that I could truly stand up and stand tall. If I didn’t make any movies for a few years, it’s because I decided to keep silence… I kept my silence because I was exhausted.” 

Happy Belated Birthday, Danai Gurira: Fem Film Rogue Icon Spotlight

 

Happy belated birthday, Danai Gurira.

Born on Valentine’s Day, our favorite sweetheart Danai Gurira is an incredible double threat—an award winning actress and a Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright. For years, she turned our heads as the courageous, machete wielding Michonne on The Walking Dead, played the torn immigrant Adenike making heavy decisions in Mother of George, and kicked butt as Okoye, the head of the Dora Milaje in the Black Panther, Avengers: The Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. 

In Andrew Dosunmu’s Mother of George, newlywed Adenike (Danai Gurira) must keep her Yoruba family tradition alive in her new American life. DP Bradford Young. 

Born in Grinnell, Iowa to Zimbabwean parents (Josephine, a college librarian and Roger, a tenured professor at Grinnell College), Danai Jesekai Gurira was the youngest of four children . Her family returned to Zimbabwe in 1983, a few years after its gained independence from British rule. She then attended Dominican Convent High School and returned to the United States; pursuing higher education at Macalester in St. Paul, Minnesota (earning a psychology BFA) and Tisch School for the Arts at New York University (earning an MFA in acting). At Macalester, she performed the late great ntozake shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuff. While at NYU, she tried recruiting Lupita Nyong’o (who chose Yale instead) and they have been close friends ever since. Gurira also taught playwright and acting in Liberia, South Africa, and home country, Zimbabwe. 

Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o have a beautiful, Black sistah girl friendship that has them traveling the world together, showing up at premieres and red carpets holding hands, and professional partnerships— co-starring in Ryan Coogler’s successful Black Panther and Nyong’o starring in Gurira’s play, Eclipsed. 

Gurira’s poignant, must-see plays are extraordinarily written; all taking considerable care to point out the role of Christianity’s dominance over the spiritual nature of Rhodesia (later turned Zimbabwe). For In the Continuum—which she both wrote and starred in— Gurira won a special citation from Obie, the Helen Hayes Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Award. The Convert tenderly showcases a young woman’s devotion to her ancestral heritage despite others desperately wanting her allegiance to new religion. It won the Whiting and Los Angeles Drama Circle Critics Award. Eclipsed is a heartbreaking drama centering the trials and tribulations of abused women during war and co-starring Nyong’o. It was the first all female cast/crew production ever on Broadway. Eclipsed was nominated for Best Play at the Tony Awards; winning Lilly, Drama Desk Awards, and ImageNation Revolution Awards. Gurira also put on a Shakespeare in the Park performance and was commissioned by Yale Preparatory Theatre for her last play Familiar. 

Michonne (Danai Gurira) lasted for eight seasons on The Walking Dead.

The funny quipping, resourceful fighting Okoye (Danai Gurira) was a real scene stealer in the Black Panther. DP Rachel Morrison.

In the acting realm, Gurira is widely known for portraying Black heroines from comic book adaptations— The Walking Dead and Black Panther. Originally, Michonne entered as a vessel withholding emotions, having lost so much to the undead disease. Grief transformed her into that machete soldier. Until, she met Rick and opened up a softer, gentler side, letting her guard down among the monsters that constantly surrounded them. Gurira won two Saturns, an honorary merit CinEuphoria, and Gracie Award for her portrayal. Black Panther’s Okoye is similar, her passion for her king and country driving her stout heart. She loves her Dora Milaje women including Nakia who is not of the army, but of Wakanda. Gurira won another Saturn, an Image Award, People’s Choice, and SAG Award for her amazing performance. Mother of George reveals Gurira’s potential to be in other roles— another stirring drama or perhaps a romantic comedy or a grisly horror— with her as the lead. Although Gurira admits that horror is not her favorite, she held her own in a gruesome zombie apocalypse. Maybe she could star in Nikyatu Jusu’s upcoming project with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions. African womanhood/blackness is a courageous theme in Gurira’s plays. Imagining her starring in a cinematic story told by another Black woman would be struck gold. 

Danai Gurira in Los Angeles Times photographed by Christopher L. Procter, 2019. 

Still, a shame that Gurira and Nyong’o’s adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah did not pan out over at Amazon Studios. With Gurira on writing duty and Nyong’o starring as Ifemulu, that would have been an incredibly executed miniseries. 

Currently, Danai Gurira is filming the sequel Wakanda Forever sadly without its star the late Chadwick Bozeman. In addition to reteaming with bestie Lupita Nyong’o and filmmaker Ryan Coogler, Gurira has recently announced that she will be starring as Shirley Chisholm in a biopic fueled Hollywood. She will be amazing either way, having shown impeccable acting chops across genres. There is hope that while she continues to write multifaceted stories from the African woman perspective in play medium (with maybe tv/film in the future), that Gurira continues building a successful career as an actress too. She is most certainly very talented at both.  

Danai Gurira on Oscar night. 

Danai Gurira quotes:

“As a kid, that’s when you figure out how you envision yourself. You see yourself as Other as a child because you don’t have the vocabulary nor the worldview or the understanding of global history and all the dynamics of racial oppression to understand that it’s not as it should be. So as a child, you’re really being indoctrinated with the idea that you’re not it. You’re not of the right thing, and these are the people who are. And that’s what’s really scary about not giving children representation. They absorb those images. But it’s so unnecessary. We don’t actually have to put children through that. It’s really easy to give them representations of self, whatever color they are.”

“It happened for the first time when I was nine in Zimbabwe where I was raised... when it happened, I remember being surprised by it. I never thought about it. But when I did receive that compliment, a stunning brown-skinned woman took my face in her hands, her long flowing braids casting down her back. I realized it was something I would always cherish. She looked at me, observing me with deep appreciation... and told me that I was beautiful. She said it with such feeling that it filtered straight into my soul and left an indelible imprint.... So I had to consider the idea that it may just be true.”

“I love writing for actors; women of African descent and people who generally are underrepresented.”

“In terms of writing, I just wasn't finding enough stories about contemporary African people - or historical, just anything, the whole gamut. I was raised in southern Africa and I came back to the West for college. I was starting to look for what I would like to perform, what I would like to see put to life onstage, and I was finding many stories about everybody else, but none about my own people. My playwriting became a "necessity being the mother of invention" type thing. I wasn't finding what I wanted to perform, so I started to create it myself.”

Happy Birthday, Issa Rae: Fem Film Rogue Icon Spotlight

 

On this day, a superstar was born at the right time to a Senegalese doctor father and a teacher mother, Jo-Issa Rae Diop known to the world as simply Issa Rae, a humorous actress, talented writer/producer/creator/New York Times Bestselling author, and avid supporter of Black voices. 

Rae, a Stanford grad took a huge bite of American pie, taking on the web with the terrific series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. TMABG was a fresh, relatable view at the other side of Black girl life in a hilarious, vivid arena that television could not touch most likely due to its star and storytelling being unapologetically Black during a moment where such crucial stories were not always told by Black voices, let alone starred monoracial Black women. The big plus was the natural hair movement too— that a dark-skinned J had her big chop and didn’t look back. Essentially, J’s positive mirror reflections would soon migrate into award-winning television. 

Yes. Yes.

Years later, HBO granted Rae the reins to co-create Insecure, another vehicle to showcase her unique characters to a larger audience, showcasing the pitfalls of Black women who still did not have themselves completely together even after turning thirty. They did not have to have it all figured out, let alone be Black women stereotypes. Yet just like in TMABG, female friendships were essential, a glue that was either stuck together or unevenly lopsided much as seen between Issa/Molly. 

In addition to making sure that Black women were watching shows with them first in mind, Rae was producing other talented artists, ushering them into a back door ala Issa Rae Presents, a YouTube platform that features incredible short films like Inamorata and web series like First and the Emmy winning Giants. 

Nominated four times for a Primetime Emmy including for Best Comedy Series and two time (hopefully three) Golden Globe, this BET Award, four time Black Reel, NAMIC, and Satellite Award winner has made many wonderful things happen onscreen and off. On the big screen, Rae has starred in films: Little, The Hate U Give, The Photograph, and The Lovebirds. 

Coming next for Issa Rae is Vengeance, a horror/mystery thriller written by B.J. Novak and a comedy titled Empress of Serenity co-starring Bill Hader. Her Issa Rae Productions will be producing Seen & Heard, a two part documentary on the history of Black television. 

Great moments have happened due partly to Issa Rae’s growing influence— after all, she has defined a whole new vibe. Her vibrant creativity and sweet nod to Black pop culture shows love and respect to those before her while propping up those coming after her. She has inspired up and coming creators to believe in themselves, to acknowledge their respective upbringings, and share unique stories to the forefront. She is not only an innovator, she is a phenomenal leader bringing multitudes of Blackness into a gratifying, fun, hilarious future that we deserve to see. 

Some of Issa Rae’s most memorable quotes include: 

“I’m rooting for everybody Black.” 

“For a long time ... I defined myself by what I wasn’t, which constantly set me up for failure and disappointment. And, my life changed when I focused on what I was good at, what I liked most about myself and what made me stand out.”— from her 2017 Black Girls Rock speech

“It's a bit cliche, but you can't go wrong by writing what you know. Even if you're a horrible writer, your own knowledge and experience is unrivaled. Nobody knows what you know like you know what you know. The way you see things is pretty unique.”

“The black characters on TV are the sidekicks, or they're insignificant. You could put all the black sidekicks on one show, and it would be the most boring, one-dimensional show ever. Even look at the black women on 'Community' and 'Parks and Recreation' - they are the archetype of the large black women on television. Snide and sassy.”