Michelle, Zendaya, Regina King, Viola Davis, and Jasmine Cephas Jones
I want to dedicate this article to all the black women in my life.
Michelle Obama interviewed 24-year-old Zendaya on Tuesday in what felt like a refreshing breath of fresh black female air. "Congratulations, Emmy winner, fabulous one,” said the former First Lady over an ephemeral Instagram Live interview.
The 72nd Emmy Awards kicked off a week of excellence in the television industry, especially for black women. On Sunday, Zendaya became the youngest performer ever to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a drama series for her role as Rue, the 17-year-old battling a drug-addiction on Euphoria. And she just happened to be black. Zendaya is only the second black woman ever to win the award since Viola Davis won it for the first time in 2015.
Zendaya’s father is black (grew up in Arkansas), her mother is white (German and Scottish ancestry), and her name derives from the Zimbabwe dialect Shona and means simply “to give thanks.” Zendaya is an actor, fashion icon, singer, dancer, model, and we probably have yet to see her best skills.
Obama revealed she had binged-watched Euphoria, “I watched every episode,” then shared how proud she was of Zendaya to take her moment on the stage to reference the Black Lives Matter protests in the street and to encourage voter participation in the upcoming election. “You're doing it all," Obama said. The two teamed up for almost an hour to urge young people to vote. The duo convened virtually as part of a day-long initiative to support her When We All Vote campaign.
"It feels like a really weird time to be celebrating. But I just want to say, there is hope in the young people. To all my peers out there in the street—I see you, I admire you, I thank you.” —Zendaya
Regina King
Also at the Emmys on Sunday, black actor Regina King won her fourth Emmy thanks to her role as Angela Abar in Watchmen, tying icon Alfre Woodard for the most Emmys won by a black performer. In typical King fashion, she pulled a real-life superhero move by wearing a Breonna Taylor shirt while accepting her Emmy for playing a superhero. You can see the look on her face as she paused and let the audience take in her powerful message before she spoke (we will get back to this).
Last year, the HBO series Watchmen depicted the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst outbreaks of racial violence in American history. On June 1, 1921, the 35-city block district of Greenwood District, known commonly as the “Black Wall Street" at the time, was home to more than 300 black-owned stores and businesses. The entire city was rioted, burned, destroyed, and the men, women and children were massacred in less than a few hours. Even planes flew over the city with bombs, and the Tulsa police were “too late to respond”. The city’s official records report the casualties of the attack at 36 black lives, but black historians believe as many as 300 black lives were lost in the brutal massacre to suppress black businesses.
"Look, we're talking about 1921, this happened. Cut to today, same shit is going down. There's the same mentality. We're not having another massacre, but it feels like we're having little mini-massacres all around.” —Regina King
President Donald Trump coincidentally chose Tulsa as the location of his first campaign rally in 2020, and he decided on June 19th, or Juneteenth, the same holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, in order to “pay respect to the tragedy” he said on Fox News, and “it should be thought of as a celebration.” Trump received so much backlash for the decision, they moved it one day. However, Trump has not given a single speech on race nor said the words “Black Lives Matter” publicly in an interview, and former black presidential candidate Herman Cain even died from coronavirus a few weeks after attending Trump’s rally. Trump knew coronavirus was “five times deadlier than the flu” back in February 2020, but it was more important to distract from Juneteenth by hosting a rally on the same day.
And speaking of Breonna Taylor, a Grand Jury has voted today, Wednesday, September 23rd, not to indict any of the officers that killed Breonna Taylor, who worked as an EMT, over six months ago as she slept in her home. The Louisville mayor has already announced a curfew and the Louisville Police Department said the US National Guard has been activated to defend against protests. May Breonna rest in peace and power.
Viola Davis
In case you forgot, Viola Davis made history back in 2015 when she became the first black woman to win an Emmy. She was awarded best Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her incredible performance as Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder. Davis was a graduate of Juilliard School, with an acceptance rate of 5% back in 1993, and went on to win an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards. She is the first black actress to achieve the “Triple Crown of Acting.” Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
When Davis accepted her Emmy, I almost teared up in her opening line. Davis reminds me so much of Maya Angelou in the way she forces you to listen to her words carefully and deliberately when she speaks. You can feel the authenticity.
“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there." —Viola Davis
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II wins the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a limited series or movie for Watchmen. He starts by thanking his parents and giving shoutouts to West Oakland and New Orleans for “making noise” and goes on to explain the importance of the Watchmen series. He ends his speech in the most humbling manner by dedicating his award to all the black women in his life.
“Watchmen was a story about trauma. It was a story about the lasting scars of white domestic terrorism. It was a story about police corruption and brutality. But in the midst of it all, it was also a story about a god who came down to earth to reciprocate to a black woman all the love that she deserved. I want to dedicate this award to all the black women in my life.” —Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Ladies, if you think Yahya is good looking, he is likely to co-star with Michael B. Jordan in a Matrix 4 reboot. I probably won’t let my wife see this one.
Other Winners
Laurence Fishburne and Jasmine Cephas Jones helped production studio Quibi earn its first pair of Emmy victories for #FreeRayshawn.
Also notable in Black history at the Emmys was actor Ron Cephas Jones picking up his second-ever Emmy for This Is Us as guest drama actor while his real daughter Jasmine Cephas Jones won a short form comedy award for #FreeRayShawn (Fishburne). This is the first parent-child duo to win an Emmy in the same year.
It feels almost wrong to put Jasmine in the “Other Winners” category, considering her prior dual-role as Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds in the Broadway musical Hamilton. Jones is also married to her Hamilton co-star Anthony Ramos.
Out of the 18 acting awards handed out at the Emmys, 50% of the awards (9 awards) went to black actors this year, compared to 11% last year. Minorities represent over 72% of the American population. This is one year of progress!
Congrats to Zendaya, Regina King, Laurence Fishburne, Ron Cephas Jones, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and all the other incredible actors and award winners at the Emmys. And thank you for anyone who took a risk on these actors at a time when it was unpopular to do so. You are the true heroes, and now we all get to enjoy a lifetime of their work.
Register to Vote
The character of Rue in Euphoria was relatable to both teens and adults who are struggling with drug addictions, mental illness, sexual harassment or fear of their own sexuality, physical and mental abuse, and so many other forms of oppression that always seem to disproportionately impact poor people, minorities and young people who never had a chance. Every election, we get a chance to change this.
Fill out your name, current mailing address, and date of birth. This will confirm instantly with USPS that they know where to deliver your ballot information. Then, click the big red button at the bottom of the page and Zendaya herself will pop out of the laptop screen and give you important voting and election information!
Click here to register to vote