Black History Month has been nationally recognized for less than forty years. Now I am speaking up and asking, why should February be the only month we acknowledge innovative African-Americans? Also why do we often only speak of the same people, e.g., Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Madam CJ Walker? I am not saying people today are more significant but they are at least relevant. The accomplishments of our favorite African-American activists and inventors will forever be notable, but we should remember that years have passed and African-American's levels of success increase daily. We as people should start acknowledging people who in forty-years the next generation will be calling their successes "black history", who are accomplishing great things, today! This is where I would like to recognize well-known screenwriter, Shonda Rhimes.
While attending USC
Rhimes was a diamond in the rough among her peers. She even received the prestigious
Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship. Similar to most of today’s recent college
graduates Rhimes had a tough time finding work in her field. Two years after
graduating she finally had an opportunity to get her name out there. Will Smith
and Jada Pinkett Smith were interested in producing her short film, Blossoms
and Veils. Then later down the line they wanted to produce another one of her
films, When Willows Touch, but when Omar Epps chose to depart from the film so
did the distribution company. The film was never completed and according to
Rhimes, "Apparently there wasn't a big market for black films set in the
Jim Crow South about a body rotting in a cornfield."
This setback made Rhimes
begin to question her career choice. She had even considered going to medical
school. What put her back on track was a job in the research department of Hank
Aaron: Chasing the Dream, a HBO documentary. In her time away from the
documentary Rhimes was writing a script called Human Seeking Same, which was
purchased (but never made) by New Line Cinema. Word of this is what began to
open the door to Rhimes in the film industry.
Her first offer was to
write the HBO movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge in 1998. The movie was about
the first black actress to receive an Academy Award. The movie itself earned
Halle Berry an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Rhimes next big project was Crossroads.
When she first got the offer to write Crossroads Rhimes did not even know who
Britney Spears was. Then when she attended her concert in Chicago she realized
some things about Spears, “I suddenly found her fascinating–that kind of power
[Spears wields] with young girls, the amount of devotion they had to her, made
me see the possibilities in a movie.” Then In 2004 Rhimes Wrote The Princess
Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. The sequel did not do as well in theatres as the
original, but Rhimes does not regret working on the film just due to the fact
that she got to work with Julie Andrews.
Rhimes became inspired
to write for television after the adoption of her first child. She watched a
lot of television while she was at home taking care of the baby. Rhimes enjoyed
watching real life surgeries on TV and had been thinking about her time as a
candy striper. This is what gave her the idea to write the medical drama,
Grey’s Anatomy. The show started in 2005 and since has been nominated for and
won many awards, including a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy. Making Grey’s
Anatomy the critically acclaimed show it is today gave Rhimes a voice people
were willing to listen to at ABC studios. When speaking about Rhimes being a
prominent figure in the entertainment industry, Scandal enthusiast and well
known blogger, Luvvie Ajayi said, “Shonda Rhimes is currently one of the most
powerful women in Hollywood. I was at an event where she was being honored and
the head of ABC presented her an award. She said ‘we usually give people a seat
at the table. We gave Shonda the table.’ That’s power and it’s amazing in that
position.” Rhimes went on to create two more shows for ABC, Private Practice and Scandal. Private Practice was cancelled after six seasons, but today Scandal
is currently one of the most watched shows on television and is definitely the
most talked about on Twitter with a record of 713,000 tweets about the show the
night of the season three premiere.
With a career as a
writer you are rarely known by your face or name. You perform your job with
your writing speaking for you. You are often not seen or heard as yourself.
What sets Rhimes apart from other writers is that she makes her voice heard.
She is not afraid to express her opinion outside of her shows and movies. When
watching the ABC Family premiere of BunheadsRhimes
shared her opinion of what she saw so far on the show tweeting, “Hey
@abcfbunheads: really? You couldn’t cast even ONE young dancer of color so I
could feel good about my kid watching this show? NOT ONE?” Rhimes did not make
this statement in a rude way but in a way that would not only open the eyes of
viewers but also the people of the entertainment industry.
I think Rhimes is making
black history because she is all about equality and diversity in the
entertainment industry. Grey’s Anatomy and
Scandal showcase cast members of
different minority backgrounds including Asian, African American, Latino, and
homo-sexual. She writes her shows to include characters like this because those
are the people we see in the real world. She branches out and does not just
write shows about black women just because that is who she is. Rhimes also did
not feel the need to make any of her shows “black shows”. When she first wrote
the script for Grey’s Anatomy she did
not give any of the characters last names. All she told her casting director,
Linda Lowy was “Linda, I want you to cast it the way you see the world.”
