black women writers
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This Is Us Writer-Director Kay Oyegun and Actor Jennifer C. Holmes Introduce the 'Spirit' of Randall's 'Birth Mother'
This is Randall Pearson’s birth mother. This is Laurel. We first meet young Laurel DuBois (portrayed by Jennifer C. Holmes) way back in Season 1, Episode 3 titled, “Kyle.” Through a series of strategically teasing flashbacks, we learn just a little bit more about her character, mostly through the perspective of Randall’s (Sterling K. Brown)…
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Felicia Pride, on the 'Vulnerability, Sensuality, Softness and Hardness' of the Women in Her Short Film, Tender
TV and film writer (and former contributor to The Root) Felicia Pride has an array of stories bubbling inside of her. Leading with a fascinating Hollywood journey that includes TV writing credits in Queen Sugar, a festival-accepted feature film and more exciting things to come, Pride embodies her surname. Having found Pride through her creator…
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Scholar, Mentor, Pioneer: Remembering Professor Cheryl A. Wall
“What does it mean for a black woman to work in the U.S. academy today?” This is the question longtime Rutgers University professor and author Cheryl A. Wall posed while introducing a panel of black female academics in 2009. It was a question central to Wall’s career and life’s work, as she strove to make…
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Praisesong for the Writer: The Literary World Mourns the Death of Author Paule Marshall
“Heartbreaking news…Another beloved elder has crossed over,” tweeted two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage on Thursday afternoon. On the heels of Toni Morrison’s death on Aug. 5, the beloved elder Nottage was referring to was author Paule Marshall, who died on Monday at age 90 in Richmond, Va., after a yearslong struggle with dementia, the…
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‘Quiet As It’s Kept’: Artist Kara Walker Creates the New Yorker’s Cover Tribute to Toni Morrison
Anyone familiar with the work of Toni Morrison knew it was a force, as was the woman who wrote it. The visions Morrison rendered were both unflinching and tender, exposing the sometimes shameful truths of our natures and whispering them back to us like a lover’s secret. The same could be said of the work…
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‘Racism Is a Soft Target’: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Lynn Nottage on the Prescient Moment That Became Sweat
With the endless amount of political rhetoric currently in our orbit, it’s often easy to forget about the people behind it—not just the politicians themselves, but the countless people whose fears make their power possible. It’s the grim reality we faced in 2016 when fear became the battle cry fueling the ascendancy to the presidency.…
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Showtime Orders New Lena Waithe/Cathy Kisakye Pilot to Show You How to Make Love to a Black Woman
Lena “Scooping Up All The Creative Projects Because This a Black Renaissance Redux, Bih” Waithe has a new and super interesting project in the works. As you may know, the writer-producer-actress currently has a first-look deal with Showtime, with its first notable project being The Chi. Now, the premium cable network has given a pilot…
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'You Know What That's Called? Growth': Natasha Rothwell Secures Overall Deal With HBO
Birds of a feather do, indeed, flock together. When your crew is glowed-up, that light is bound to shine on you as well. Such is the case for Natasha Rothwell, who just inked an overall deal with HBO, Deadline reports. Her first project is said to be an original idea, which she’ll write, executive produce,…
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There Are Plenty of Black Women TV Writers, Hollywood. Y'all Just Don't Want to See It
It was 2017, and I was sitting in a packed theater in Salt Lake City, Utah watching horror-themed short films directed by women for Sundance’s midnight showcase. After the films faded to black and the lights went up, one particular white male producer went on a spiel during the panel about not being able to…
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The Best Book Club You’ll Ever Join: The Free Black Women’s Library Places Us Front and Center
It’s the weekend, and all I want to do is curl up with a good book and be transported to another realm. Instead, I’m curled up with my laptop this fine Saturday afternoon, editing and writing blogs for The Glow Up. But there’s definite gratification in writing about an amazing project like the Free Black…