Black Actress Excellence

Read Time:3 Minute, 45 Second

Becoming an actress isn’t easy, and it’s even harder for Black actresses. This is why it’s important to uplift and give recognition to those who are doing their best and succeeding. It also shows that there is a space in media for a variety—no need for pigeon-holing.

Ayo Edebiri

Ayo Edebiri was born in Boston, MA, U.S. She realized at an early age that she was into comedy; she participated in open-mic events when she was younger and did stand-up in her early 20s. She went to NYU to become a teacher but realized that it wasn’t the route for her. She changed her major to dramatic writing and graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Her switch turned out to be a great choice. It led to her landing a lead role in FX’s The Bear. She has been awarded time and again: she has one Emmy win out of two nominations, one Golden Globe out of two nominations, an NAACP and many more wins and nominations.

She’s worn many different hats in the industry: writer, director and producer.

Vanessa Morgan

Vanessa Morgan was born in Ottawa, Ont., Canada. She is both a singer and actress, making her a double threat. She began singing at a young age, and that got her discovered while she was in California. She has given her acting talents to shows like Degrassi: The Next Generation and A.N.T. Farm. She also starred as the lead in My Babysitter’s a Vampire, which is both a movie and TV series that aired on Teletoon and Disney Channel.

Morgan was added to The CW’s hit show Riverdale that’s based on the Archie Comics. She became a series regular in the third season. Unfortunately, she mentioned that she was paid the least, which was a sad but all-too-common occurrence for Black actresses.

Morgan landed a lead role in the CBC/CW original series Wild Cards. She plays the confident con woman Max Mitchell. The series has been renewed for its third and fourth seasons.

Quinta Brunson

Quinta Brunson was born in Philadelphia, PA, U.S. She began attending Temple University to study communications. She decided to leave in 2013 to pursue a career in comedy in Los Angeles. Her experiences (and a good friend) led her to becoming a junior producer at Buzzfeed. She left the company in 2018 and began acting on mainstream TV.

In 2021, Brunson and ABC released the hit show Abbott Elementary. (Edebiri is Brunson’s sister in the show!) Since then, the show and its cast have been nominated for and won many awards. Brunson has many nominations and has won two Emmys and a Golden Globe. Abbott Elementary has been renewed for its fifth season and will possibly be out in Fall 2025.

Temple University granted Brunson an honorary degree in 2024; she was also able to address the graduating class. In the address, she jokes to her mom, “it only took me 11 years, two Emmys and one Golden Globe to finally get a degree.”

Issa Rae

Issa Rae was born in Los Angeles, CA, U.S. She attended Stanford University to study

African and African American studies. During and after attending, she made a number of web series designed around Black lives. She cites the misrepresentation of Black girls on TV as the reason for her creating one of her web series.

In 2016, Rae created Insecure for HBO. It ran for five years and ended on season five. The show was quite impactful. As one viewer said, “…Issa Rae is changing tv and has put the narrative of black women back in our hands…”

Rae has also taken her acting to the silver screen. She’s acted in the summer hit movie Barbie and rom-coms like Photography and The Lovebirds. She founded the media company Hoorae (formerly Issa Rae Productions). It houses the management company ColorCreative that she co-founded with producer Deniese Davis. ColorCreative, in collaboration with SONY, created the film One of Them Days. Popular singer SZA (who had a small role in Insecure) and well-known actress Keke Palmer play the main characters in the film.

These are just a few of the amazing Black actresses who work to create more representation for Black people in the media. Hopefully their presence encourages the industry to make more space for up-and-coming Black actors.