Ti’Ana Marshall

“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity”-Viola Davis.

Originally, this article was going to be about my feel good weekend. I planned on relating my travels to anyone else who had ever done the same thing. Blasting music as loud as it will go, looking over at my love like those romance movies, while we toured the open highway—then something else happened.

I am overwhelmed with emotion and the tug of responsibility is yanking at my heart. History was made last night and it would not be right to talk about travel, and not the Nubian Queens who finally made it outside of the colored lines.

September is the month of (insert hash tag here) black girl magic. For the first time last night, a black woman won an Emmy for best lead actress in a drama series. The incredible Viola Davis was crowned supreme for her role in the hit television show “How to Get Away With Murder”.

Before accepting the award, Davis alongside four other actresses, was plastered across the screen in four windows. Each individual window full of their faces as they waited to hear who would take home the prize. Viola Davis sat alongside her husband, eyes shut, head down, with her hands tight against the chair. Then they said her name, “Viola Davis”. A stunned actress literally shook in her seat and her husband seemed to pull at her arm as if to remind her that this was real life.

With the grace of a thousand goddesses, Viola Davis strolled upon stage, clearly overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions. The lights twinkled against her ebony skin as she began to give a speech full of truth, beginning with a quote from abolitionist Harriet Tubman:

“In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me, over that line. But I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.” “Here’s to all the writers, the awesome people that are Ben Sherwood, Paul Lee, Peter Nowalk, Shonda Rhimes, people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black.” Before taking her seat, Viola Davis thanked other trailblazing actresses of color for “taking us over that line”.

The image of the black woman is changing not only on the big screen, but on the newsstands as well. For the first time, not one, not two, but seven major fashion magazines all   feature black women on the cover. Misty Copeland, another history making woman of color, graces the cover of Essence, while Beyonce slays the September cover of Vogue—the most prestigious and sought after cover.

All of that leads me to this. My open letter to all the future Viola Davises, the Gabrielle Unions, Vivica Foxes, Meagan Goods, Misty Copelands and more. To all my beautiful black baby girls who like me had longed to see myself on the big screen without being praised for my physical attributes—the time is now.

Realize you are beautiful, you are worthy of making history. Whether you are the lightest shade of tan, to the deepest of ebony, hear me—you are special! There is elegance in the sway of your hips, beauty in the thickness of your lips, intelligence underneath your kinky-curly hair. Use it to the best of your ability.

Continue to shine and break the mold. Let us continue to redefine what the world thinks of us as we reshape ourselves into the queens we are descendants of. This is black girl magic. This is only the beginning.