SHONDA RHIMES ON HER BIRTHDAY

SHONDA RHIMES CAME TO TELEVISION WITH GREY'S ANATOMY which had a white woman and an asian woman at the center. From there things stayed female. But they got blacker and blacker.


from
National Association of Broadcasters Press Release

"The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced [in 2014] that Shonda Rhimes, creator and executive producer of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame at the 2015 NAB Show Television Luncheon on Monday, April 13 in Las Vegas.

Grey's Anatomy CastWhite Woman and Asian Woman are at the center

The hit ABC series "Grey's Anatomy" chronicles the personal and professional lives of surgical residents in Seattle. "Scandal” revolves around the life and work of a professional crisis manager and her complicated relationship with an embattled White House administration. Rhimes also created the “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff series "Private Practice," which ran on ABC for six seasons, and is the executive producer of the new ABC series “How to Get Away with Murder.”

Private Practice Cast
White Woman centered again with Black Female Bestie

"Shonda Rhimes’ creative talent is undeniable, and is on display every Thursday night on ABC...

Entering its eleventh season, "Grey's Anatomy" continues to be hailed by audiences and critics. For her work on the series, Rhimes was named the 2007 Television Producer of the Year by the Producers Guild of America. She also received the 2006 Writers Guild Award for Best New Series, the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Television Drama, the 2007 Lucy Award for Excellence in Television from Women in Film, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series from 2007-2011 in addition to the show’s five wins for Outstanding Drama Series. “Grey’s Anatomy” also earned Rhimes Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Writing for a Drama Series.

SCANDAL CASTKerry Washington is the Black Female Lead 
(the first in nearly 40 years, since Diahann Carroll's "Julia" sitcom in 1960s)
2 other black characters and 1 latino charcter are central

Diahann Carroll Presents Kerry Washington's Emmyhttp://www.eonline.com/news/462016/diahann-carroll-presents-emmy-with-kerry-washington-why-it-s-a-big-deal

For “Scandal,” Rhimes was the 2013 winner of the AFI Award, Peabody Award and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama Series and also received a nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Rhimes was the recipient of the 2012 GLAAD Golden Gate Award, 2010 RAINN Hope Award and a 2009 GLSEN Respect Awards Honoree. Additionally for “Private Practice,” Rhimes received the Television Academy Honors award in 2010 and 2011 as well as the Prism Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series in 2011."

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER CASTBlack Female Center  
(The first dark-skinned black female lead on a television show EVER)
with 3 other black characters are center stage 

Shonda Rhimes has broken ceilings made racism, sexism, and colorism for black women. When it comes to black images Shonda Rhimes is EVERYTHING. She even makes sure black women have a chance to direct on her show. Ava DuVernay directed an episode, likely in preparation for her series "Queen Sugar" --also made possible by Rhimes' ceiling breaking

CAST OF Ava DuVernay's
Oprah funded
QUEEN SUGARmade possible by a ceiling destroyed by Shonda Rhimes

John Legend's UNDERGROUND was also made possible by Shonda Rhimes ceiling breaking. And next season we're finally going to get to see Harriet Tubman as the action hero she really was

Cast of John Legend's 
UNDERGROUNDJurnee Smollett (Eve's Bayou) is the central character 

And if you don't think Shonda Rhimes' multiple successes with black females leads didn't make hollywood willing to take another chance on a big budget movie about three real black female mathematicians at NASA, think again.

In 2016 Rhimes even put out a book on building, creating, and succeeding even though she was scared of so many different things, socially speaking. Her book is part biography and part self-help in that she's trying to lay a path out for others to follow. 

The most important thing was that she did NOT have it all together when she started seeing success. She was single minded and a hard worker. But she work to do on self after she became well-known. If women read this book and get one thing out of it, I hope it's this: You do not have to have it ALL together to succeed. You just have to love what you do enough to work hard at it. 

And now on to the next thing.

In 2018, Shonda Rhimes will be bringing even more black female images to your television screen via Shakespeare. "Still Star-Crossed" starts after Romeo and Juliet die.

Still Star-Crossed
More Shonda Rhimes Coming In 2018

At first I guessed that "Still Star-Crossed" would feature a black family as the Capulet family and a white family as the Montegue family. But it's looking like Shonda will just do casting of each family without regard to race. 

Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves played brothers in a Shakespeare movie once, without one word of explanation. I'm not sure that worked. But I could get used to it.

Whatever or however Shonda Rhimes does Romeo & Juliette, Part 2 I'm gonna be there to see what's next for black female images on television.

This black feminist rocks hard.

Thank you Shonda.

Preview of Still Star-Crossed