Black women who redefined TV representation

Black women are powerful. Black women are nuanced. Black women are complex. Black women are not a monolith, and these game-changing Black women on television are examples of that. We laughed, we cried, we cheered along as we joined them on their onscreen journeys, each portrayal magnificent and multifaceted. Join us as we celebrate the Black women who conveyed this beautiful multi-dimensionality with expertise and flair.

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols

From 1966 to 1969, actress Nichelle Nichols played the iconic role on Star Trek of Lieutenant Uhura, the ship’s communicator. For many people watching the NBC primetime show, this was the first time they were given a portrayal of a Black woman who was an equal and respected colleague. 

Star Trek was famously multicultural in a time when racism abounded, and they truly changed the course of TV history when, in 1968, Uhura and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) had the very first interracial kiss ever seen on television in the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.” 

Since then, Nichelle has revealed that even the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was a huge fan of the show – it was one of the few he let his kids watch. He persuaded her not to quit after the first season, saying, “For the first time on television we will be seen as we should be seen every day -- as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, but who can go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be professors.”

Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, Phylicia Rashad

There were working Black mothers on TV before Clair Huxtable, but not successful trial lawyers living in gorgeous brownstone walk-ups. Clair and Cliff weren’t “moving on up,” they were already “up,” and Clair was sure of herself, erudite, loaded with poise, and she didn’t suffer fools gladly. She also dearly loved her children and wanted the best for them, but never coddled them with her wealth. 

When confronted with Alvin, the suitor of their eldest daughter Sandra, and his wildly outdated and sexist views on women, Clair made sure to set him straight. The same goes for her appearance on a TV show Perspectives, where old white men asked her to sum up the Black experience in 30 seconds. 

The original Aunt Viv on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Janet Hubert

We’re not going to get into an old Aunt Viv/new Aunt Viv debate here, but Vivian Banks as portrayed by Janet Hubert on The Fresh Prince (stream now on Crave) was a revelation. Like Clair Huxtable who came before her, she was a smart, affluent college professor who showed that women over 40 could still strike a pose and dance circles around young, white girls who were trying to bring her down with racist, ageist barbs. 

And make no mistake about it, Aunt Viv was also hot-to-trot, always excited for some alone time with Philip, busting open the stereotype that after a certain age, women cease to exist sexually. 

Dr. Rainbow Johnson on Black-ish, Tracee Ellis Ross

Dr. Rainbow Johnson is some kind of supermom – smart and accomplished, but also emotionally present. And when we say "present," we mean, like, she cries at the drop of a hat. But we love that about her. 

Bow doesn’t have to maintain her composure at all times just so that her colleagues will take her seriously – she has bad days and she feels them out loud. Sometimes she loses her cool, like the iconic scene where she lambasts a fellow doctor (a white man no less) who pushes her out of the scrubbing line and mistakes her for a nurse. Or her ongoing head-butts with Ruby. Or even just the way she deeply loves her hubby Dre but also deeply loves to put him in his place. Plus she’s a bit vain (remember when she missed a huge medical emergency because she was on Snapchat?!), but hey, if we looked like her, we’d be vain as heck too.

Olivia Pope on Scandal, Kerry Washington

From the moment political candidate Fitzgerald Grant III saw Olivia Pope, he was instantly mesmerized by her brazen attitude and frankness. And so were we.

One of the “scandals” of Scandal is Liv's ongoing affair with the U.S. President, but as she puts it so beautifully during their on-off relationship: she is not the girl the guy gets at the end of the movie. “If you want me, EARN ME!” She refuses to be known as just a mistress or answer a man’s every beck and call, even if that man is the leader of the free world. Kerry Washington’s Pope is an explosive portrayal of a strong Black woman who refuses to be a political talking point or a token in the White House. She's good at her job -- the best, actually -- and everyone in Washington knows it. 

Rue Bennett on Euphoria, Zendaya

Black girls and women exploring their sexuality and gender is something seen in (not enough) movies, but for television, it’s a real rarity. Throughout the first season of Euphoria (stream now on Crave), there are lots of ways Rue is seen existing outside the boxes teen girls are often put into. For one, she's recovering from a serious drug overdose that almost killed her, and secretly still using without her family’s knowledge.

For another, she's never specific about how she identifies on the gender spectrum, never feeling quite comfortable wearing "teen girl" clothes or really "teen boy" clothes either. We almost never see Rue out of an oversized hoodie -- it’s like her uniform and the only thing that makes her feel comfortable in her own skin.

While we know in her past she has had sexual experiences with boys, the big love of her still-young life is Jules, a trans girl who loves to wear pink, skirts, makeup, and be the girliest she can be. Zendaya’s depiction of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood just trying to figure herself out is brilliant to watch because the show makes sure never to shame her for who she is. Being part of an LGBTQ relationship isn’t seen as part of her spiraling downfall and eventual relapse -- it’s seen as the one thing that’s saving her.

Denise on Master of None, Lena Waithe 

When the Master of None "Thanksgiving" episode (starring Lena Waithe as Denise) aired, it was ground-breaking for several reasons. Not only did it detail Denise’s decision to come out as a lesbian, with harrowing conversations between Denise and her mother (portrayed by the legendary Angela Bassett), it was partially based on Waithe’s own life. In fact, she wrote the episode herself. And lo and behold, she became the first Black woman to win a Primetime Emmy award for comedic writing.

The episode touched on so many issues Black queer women face, especially those stemming from anti-queer attitudes that can sometimes occur in Black communities, heightening the worries most queer people have about acceptance from family members after coming out. Waithe's episode was both poignant and funny without diminishing the very real issue it was tackling.

Sophia Burset on Orange is the New Black, Laverne Cox 

Laverne Cox is arguably the most visible Black trans woman working in television today, and it was her role as Sophia on Orange is the New Black that started it all. The drama, set in a women’s prison, details the harrowing struggles incarcerated women face, but also the solidarity and kinship the inmates develop for each other in order to survive. Add in the intersectional layers of being Black and trans, and the issues become even more complicated and nuanced.

Before Laverne and her Sophia, trans women on TV were not portrayed kindly. (Who could forget the horrible depictions in shows like Sex and the City and Friends?) The character of Sophia was crucial in moving the proverbial representation goalposts so trans identities could finally get the attention, dignity and nuance they deserve on TV. We can finally see all the beauty and pain of the trans experience, just like every other character.

Annalise Keating on How to Get Away with Murder, Viola Davis

In the first season of How To Get Away with Murder, Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis acted in that now-iconic scene where she did something that Black women haven’t been allowed to show on TV - she took off her wig.

Black women’s hair has long been a political topic, with countless cases of employers rescinding job offers, firing, or refusing to promote Black women for choosing to wear their hair naturally instead of relaxing it or wearing weaves and wigs. That's not even getting into the hundreds-of-years-long colonialist history of how Black hair has been denigrated by the ruling class. Point here is: Viola Davis's Annalise baring it all on TV was a huge moment. 

When Annalise took off her wig, eyelashes, and makeup, people talked about the significance for years. Viola told Essence Magazine in 2015, “African-American women, we wear a lot of wigs. We take our makeup off. We don’t walk great in shoes. We’re not necessarily likeable or always a size two. Some of us have deep voices and then you’re just going to have to deal with it.”

The policing of Black bodies, especially Black women’s bodies, continues on, and this moment highlighted just how important it is for them to be seen, accepted, and loved for who they naturally are.

BEFORE YOU GO: Janet Jackson FaceTimes with viral UCLA gymnast

[video_embed id='2145189']BEFORE YOU GO: Janet Jackson FaceTimes with viral UCLA gymnast [/video_embed]