Black, Female, & Proud

Hollywood got the message more than two decades ago that it should feature more roles for black people but still hadn’t quite figured out how to do this. The two possible approaches were: to cast blacks in roles written for whites; or to create roles especially for them and to tell stories about them or which at least take them into account.

Ava DuVernay’s films emphasize and teach the importance of owning not only who you are as an artist but as a person. DuVernay is creating an identity for herself as a black woman filmmaker, which is pivotal considering this industry was designed not only to appeal and tell stories that portrayed blacks in a negative light and subservient roles but, was never thought to ever consider woman as filmmakers or directors. A black Compton-born film publicist turned director is creating films that teaches blacks, most importantly black woman, that being defined as not only a woman in the industry but as a black woman filmmaker is more than doable and its perfectly acceptable if that’s the lens through which you’re working. It is something to be proud of. Ava DuVernay teaches us that we do not have to fit into the dominant culture; you can say and be proud of what you are.