Fresh off her Trailblazer Award win at last night’s MTV Movie & TV Awards comes word that Lena Waithe will participate in a keynote conversation at the 2018 Essence Festival. The mag’s website announced the news and praised the Emmy winner, who has “continuously shattered ceilings, broadened narratives, and elevated the landscape for representation during her steady rise in Hollywood.”
Earlier this year Waithe was honored with the 2018 Essence Black Women in Hollywood award. “This magazine is much more than pictures of pretty black women,” Waithe said in her acceptance speech. “The Chi” creator emphasized that Essence is a “how-to guide on how to be a black Queen even when America tries to convince us our crowns are imaginary.”
The upcoming talk will focus on Waithe’s “career journey to becoming the vanguard of the new Hollywood.”
When Waithe took the podium at yesterday’s MTV Movie & TV Awards to claim her Trailblazer prize, she gave a shout-out to other visionaries, particularly the subjects of Jennie Livingston’s acclaimed 1990 doc “Paris Is Burning,” an exploration of New York City ball culture and the LGBTQ communities involved in it. “A lot of people featured in this film are no longer with us, but their legacies will never die,” she said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “They strutted through a brick wall so we wouldn’t have to.”
Waithe made history as the first black woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing on a series. She received the honor for co-writing “Master of None’s” “Thanksgiving” episode, an unconventional coming out story about her character, Denise. Her Showtime series, Chicago-set ensemble drama “The Chi,” has been renewed for a second season. Waithe also has a series in development at TBS. “Twenties,” a comedy about a queer woman and her straight BFFs, has received a pilot order from the network.
Back in May Waithe delivered the opening keynote at the annual AFI Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) Showcase.
In an effort to build a more inclusive media industry, Waithe has teamed up with financing and production company Sight Unseen Pictures to support indie projects by underrepresented voices.
Essence Fest runs from July 5-8. Waithe’s event is free to attend. You can register and find more information on Essence’s site.
