Take your flowers, girl! So happy I got to sit down with 👑 @thesherylleeralph for her @essence cover interview ♥️
Come and cuff this, baby 🔥
Before #BlackHistoryMonth is over, here’s a bit of #BlackHerstory: It’s 1988. Dangle earrings & massive wigs have me in a chokehold. I’d recently become the 1st black woman to win an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy so I took my sister, Brenda, to Paris to celebrate.
We were walking in front of the Arc de Triomphe on a gorgeous day and Brenda was being an unbelievable drag. She was begging me to go to Versailles and I couldn’t think of anything that sounded more BORING. “Go by yourself,” I said. “I don’t need to be bothered with you.” 💅🏾
Well, THAT set her off! She shouted: “You think ‘cause you’re a big Hollywood star you don’t need to act like a decent person or show a goddamn ounce of consideration for somebody else!” Then she reached out, tore my wig off, and ran away with it.
I cursed her up and down, child. I shouted after her, but it was too late. I was standing there, alone, no wig, my hair all a mess, right in front of the Arc de Fucking Triomphe. Mortified.
At my hotel, I changed my flight home so I wouldn’t have to fly with her, then I didn’t speak to her for an entire year. But her words stuck with me. I started watching myself, noticing how I was acting, and I realized she was right. 😕
I was a black girl in Hollywood, navigating a unique position alone. Cosby had won an Emmy. Robert Guillaume won. Isabel Sanford and Gail Fisherhad too. There were only four people on Earth who knew what I felt like, and I didn’t have their phone numbers. I went off the rails…
If I had a support system of black women who shared similar experiences or provided a sense of belonging, I might’ve navigated my situation differently. But I’m grateful I had another black woman, my sister, to hold me accountable for harmful behavior and a conceited attitude.
Black women, we have a long history of collective action and community building. Whether it’s organizing against racial discrimination and economic disparities, or as simple as helping someone get their ego in check. We have to keep looking out for each other because our collective strength is what’s going to raise us up, individually and as a community.
Now, go check on your sis. 💋
Kisses from me & @wendelljames 💋
I had so much fun spilling the tea on the @jenniferhudsonshow!! ✨
I had so much fun spilling the tea on the @jenniferhudsonshow!! ✨
I had so much fun spilling the tea on the @jenniferhudsonshow!! ✨
I had so much fun spilling the tea on the @jenniferhudsonshow!! ✨
🚨Thursday! Catch me on the @jenniferhudsonshow with my girl @iamjhud!
🚨Thursday! Catch me on the @jenniferhudsonshow with my girl @iamjhud!
#ThrowbackThursday to a FAB time with some FAB women! ✨ #tbt
👋🏾 Hi from Brady’s Pub! @dayspeacock
Empowering the next generation of women starts by extending a little kindness and imparting a bit of knowledge.
Ladies, let’s do our part to mentor these young girls and make sure they reach their full potential! ✊🏾
35 years since I did this little movie called Crash Course… 🚙
Wow! Look at this throwback from my very first one-woman show…
What’s something you worked hard to achieve & are still proud of to this day? #UnstoppableBlackWoman
Look at my precious grand babies! So so happy to have them celebrating here with us this year 🥰
Look at my precious grand babies! So so happy to have them celebrating here with us this year 🥰
Ho! Ho! Ho! And a merry Christmas too! 😘🎁
Double, double toil & trouble… You haven’t been bewitched and you’re not seeing double, just a few funny, funny ladies! #TheyGotJokes ♥️
True friendships stand on loyal and unwavering ground. ✊🏾♥️
Hi, Jacks & Jills! SUNDAY – don’t miss #TheSearchForSecretSanta on @iontelevision at 8pm!
🚨 New movie alert! The Search for Secret Santa premieres 12/4 on @iontelevision!
Let the Christmas season begin! 🎄
👋🏾
Cutting up with my dear friend @annamariahorsford at the @specialneedsnetwork event 🥂♥️