The Black Woman Has Value Too

How To Get Away With Murder, Empire and Scandal – what do all these television drama series have in common? If you thought strong black female lead, then you’d be more than correct. Who could ignore Analise Keating’s battle with her emotional trauma and demons from her past? Who could help but respect Cookie Lyon’s perseverance in laying claim to what she believed she deserved? And who could resist being in awe when Olivia Pope delivered an impassioned monologue? Well, I’ll tell you who could – The Television Academy. Because it wasn’t until 2015, 51 years after the category was created, that Viola Davis became the first black woman to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Now that’s telling if you ask me.

But some would say that this is just one category of awards, and it doesn’t say much. So, let me gladly oblige, look at another category and even take it a few years back. The Cosby Show, The Jefferson’s, Black-ish and Insecure again, all these TV shows have strong black female leads. However, these are comedy series and indeed, if it’s one thing black people can do it's tell jokes, but that would be a misguided belief. To this day, Isabel Sanford’s 1981 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in A Comedy Series for her role as Louise Jefferson remains the only time a black woman has ever won that award in the 56 years since it was first given. I could go on and on and provide examples after examples. They would all point to the uncomfortable truth that the black woman is America’s least favourite demographic.

I was born into an era where cable TV flourished. So, naturally, my high school years saw my interest in American television programming significantly increase. And representation matters because shows that had characters that looked like me rose to the top of the list when it came to TV series that interested me. But my interest in awards shows also grew with my investment in these TV series. I wanted to know if these talented actors and actresses who so thoroughly entertained me throughout the season of a show would be aptly recognised. Sad to say, I was left disappointed more often than not. I can’t forget year after year watching Kerry Washington get nominated for the Emmy and never winning. The commentators would pretend to be surprised every time.

The Primetime Emmy Awards started in 1949. It was born out of a desire by television executives to acknowledge the most outstanding TV talents in that specific year of programming. But given Hollywood’s dark history of misogyny and racial discrimination, this should come as no surprise to me. This is an industry that refused to even consider black talent at one point. Black writers and producers were unheard of. And when black people were finally allowed on screen, they were given stereotypical roles like maids and servants. This is the industry that found great entertainment and profit in white people painting their faces black and their lips red and ridiculing an entire race of human beings.

So, I guess judging the present against this murky past, I should be quiet and grateful about how far we’ve come. I guess, the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards held last Sunday should’ve made me happy. A record number of black people were awarded in a single staging. The record is seven; seven black people received awards. The previous record was six. So, no, I’m not happy, and this is compounded by the fact that only three days after, the police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor while she was asleep in her home walked away scot-free. The American justice system basically showed us how to get away with murdering an innocent black woman, and I’m livid.

Therefore, given our current social climate, I can’t help but think that this was an act of pandering to the masses. A weak attempt at saying “we stand with you” and another example of performative activism. In the last few months, it has become a trend for some influential groups and organisations to say or do something, anything really to appease black folks and keep them from rioting without meaningfully addressing the real issue at hand. The problem is systemic racism.

Now, I would hate for anyone to think I’m downplaying the massive achievements of these fantastic creatives because that’s far from the truth. I’m overjoyed – Kerry Washington finally won an Emmy, Zendaya won her first Emmy, and Eddie Murphy won his first Emmy too. But I don’t need a stimulus to celebrate black excellence. I celebrate black excellence every day, in the content I consume, in the support I give, in the conversations I have, in my very being. I celebrate my people by being proud of who I am and basking in the glory of my blackness. It’s from this pedestal, I stand and denounce every corporation, celebrity, politician and any stakeholder with relevant influence. Anyone who decides to mount a performance instead of choosing to effect real change.

I will join in with the crowd and scream the praises and lift my voice in celebration because we deserve every moment of it. But, equally, I won’t stop crying for justice until everyone shares the same sentiment. I won’t stop shouting #BlackLivesMatter until the Television Academy, and the world stops whispering: the black woman has value too.