Last year was filled with disappointing news for the Black community. The multiple police shootings, Black Lives Matter, and All Lives Matter have left a bitter aftertaste in our mouths. It is as if 2016 was picked up and placed in the early 1960's where police brutality was served with your morning breakfast. This left Black America in a negative space as to their stance in society. Just when we thought the shooting was limited to Black men, the officers involved in the Sandra Bland case were not indicted. Boom! What a blow to the Black community. However 2017 was, in light, a better year. Especially, for Black women.

For decades, Black women have been reminded that they were not good enough or ostracized because of our wide noses, large behinds, ample breasts, wide hips, and full lips. In the recent years, this has changed but, has not been recognized as our own and handed to women And now, with #Blackgirlmagic, we are being celebrated for mentioned characteristics and our many identities in a worldview way, on many screens across the country. Theater and television actress Tonya Pinkins mentioned, "when Black bodies are on stage, Black perspectives must be reflected. This is not simply a matter of 'artistic interpretation'; race and sex play a pivotal role in determining who holds the power to shape representation." In order to do this, Black women need roles other than the quiet sidekick, the ratchet home-wrecking side chick, or the obnoxious, angry, Black woman. Hollywood needs to change the narrative and stop fitting all Black women into a mold and recognize the diverse form of Black women.

Needless to say, Black women across the country are celebrating the current representations of Black women in Hollywood today, however, we need more. We love the risqué Black, female character taking over lead actress roles. There's our Oliva Popes, our Annalise Keating's, our Issa Dee's, our Nola Darling's and all the many roles carried by black women. Their stories are liberating Black women to be their unapologetic selves. Alongside these representations, let's continue to promote the uniqueness of Black women and the mere idea that they can be whoever they want to be. Let's keep telling the broad, rich, bold, and multifaceted stories of the diverse women in the Black community.

Go ahead Hollywood, I am loving the exhilarating image of Black women on the big screen this year. Unapologetically Black, unapologetically loud, unapologetically fierce, unapologetic Black women, we need more of you. We want to be seen and we want more representation of the Black female experience displayed across our TV screens.