I embrace my blackness, and my femininity, and the entire fabric that makes me who I am. My flaws, as well as my strengths. I enjoy being a black woman. Mara Brock Akil inspires me – to strengthen my writing skills, embrace, and further explore the ideas, and the historical and social components that make me and my sisters the complex beings that we are. Love us, hate us, embrace us – or not. I’m a proud woman. I can only hope to share my stories – our stories, as eloquently as Mara Brock Akil does.
Mrs. Brock Akil has written and produced for The Jamie Foxx Show, and Moesha, created her own show Girlfriends in 2001 (executive produced with Kelsey Grammar), and produced the Game, Sparkle (starring Whitney Houston), Jumping the Broom, etc. Her latest project is BET’s new series Being Mary Jane, starring Gabrielle Union – first season airs January 2014.
Her statement about writing and black women was part of her acceptance speech at the Black Girls Rock award show, where she received the “Showcaller” award this past November.
Mara Brock Akil
The idea resonates with me first as a black woman, secondly as a writer, and third as a complex being. Or maybe it resonated with me as a complex black women – a product of my environments and circumstances, and the manner in which I chose to allow life forces to shape me. And then as a writer. As a mother. As a daughter. A sister – in several senses of the word.
Mara Brock Akil with Gabrielle Union
I rarely watch television, but I’m looking forward to watching her new show on BET. Gabrielle Union’s character Mary Jane Paul is a single, successful black woman dealing with issues I can relate to. I’m here for that.
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- Gabrielle Union Looks Stunning on ESSENCE’s December Cover (essence.com)
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Categories: Famous Authors, Inspiration, NaBloPoMo, Uncategorized
My Female Persuasion 
Amen to that sister!
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What’s up with that show. She is a professional woman with no man, no children, no family. Her personal life is crazy and she sleeps with other people’s men. She even stole sperm to inject herself with. I don’t see what positive messages this show sends. It portrays Black women in a very negative light.
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Interesting comment. She has a family, but I think the character is complex and the storyline is compelling on certain levels because regardless of how moral or immoral Mary Jane’s behavior is, some black women (and women in general) grapple with similar issues – being single, balancing a career, family drama, biological clock ticking, man drama, lack of social and or sex life, etc. Those things aren’t always pretty. And importantly, no matter how successful you are in certain areas, your life can have imbalances. I think it will be interesting to see how the story pans out. Yea, she does seem desperate. A lot of women do.
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Yes but that’s already on TV. We need positive family images of Black people. The Black women is a side chick stereotype is already on TV. You have scandal for that. Why couldn’t she just have a family and a career? That’s something that black women deal with everyday. At the end of the day since we don’t own any media outlets, this is what we can expect.
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Honestly, there’s not one show on TV that I watch. Not even one, so I can’t speak on what’s on. Never seen Scandal. I agree that we need positive family images/ shows, but as a single, professional, dating woman, I can still relate to some of the issues that character faces. A lot of us don’t have ideal family situations, and norms are changes (mostly for worse).
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I also think with the success of shows like Girlfriends and The Game (which I didn’t watch), Brock Akil realized the demand for such shows. I’ll give this new one a chance – even tho I don’t have DVR. We shall see.
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