Photo: Benedict Evans
The last time a black woman won Best Actress in TV Series Comedy or Musical was in 1983. Her name was Debbie Allen and it was for her role in the television series FAME. If you don't know how big FAME was for black people, just ask ya mama. It was one of the greatest shows of their time and placed a beautiful black woman on the screen dancing better than Aunt Viv did in that ballet class. It's amazing to see Issa Rae win in life by getting the same Golden Globe nomination that Allen did in the 1980s (Allen was nominated three times). It was even more amazing to see Rae celebrate in her hair scarf (gotta keep it tight and moisturized). And Issa isn't the only black woman nominated in this category — so is Tracee Ellis Ross for her role in black-ish.
If either Tracee or Issa wins, I'll be ecstatic. We haven't seen a black woman win in this category in far too long. Because it has been too long, this nomination and potential win mean everything for every black girl who ever had dreams of just being her fun, funny and quirky self on tv. I love Taraji P. Henson (2016 winner of Best Actress in a television series) and Viola Davis. They both are amazing actresses and represent us well. However, we were missing something on television. Cookie had us on lock and was reading people for filth. Annalise had us all trying to see how we could once again save Wes and enjoy that cop whose life she basically ruined. Yet we still wanted to laugh more and not just at a sassy and overly dramatic black character. We wanted to laugh at someone who wasn't wearing cheetah print, who battled with friends always throwing out their sorority calls, and who wrote rhymes like Drake in the bathroom.
Insecure gave us all that and more. It gave us representation on television that showed our depth. It showed that we can be more than a Cookie in a world full of lions (although sometimes lions aren't the problem, it's the person lying on our couch). Either way, life is a battle and we're just trying to learn how to fight it.
"You wanna become a dancer? You're going to have to work, work your little tights off. You got big dreams. You want fame. Well, fame costs, and right here is where you start paying. In sweat, I wanna see sweat." Ask ya mama about this line too. Lydia Grant (Debbie Allen) told this to a studio full of students in FAME. Yet this quote still applies to us today. If you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, you better wake up and get to work. Issa did just that.
