Last month when Emmy nominations were announced, history was made. Lena Waithe’s nomination for writing the “Thanksgiving” episode of “Master of None” has made her the first Black woman to ever be nominated for a comedy writing Emmy.
Waithe told reporters at a GLAAD panel during the Television Critics Association press tour that she was actually unaware that she was the first Black woman to be nominated until her publicist informed her. She also shared that she was nervous about the episode until she received encouragement from her peers.
“Aziz [the star and one of the creators of “Master of None”], to his credit, said ‘I can’t tell your story.’ And I’m really grateful to him. It’s the blackest piece of television,” said Waithe. She went on, “It’s very black, it’s very female, it’s very gay… When a straight white guy says ‘Thanksgiving is my favorite episode,’ that’s when art is doing its job.”
I'm gonna make today a personal national holiday. "Lena Waithe Emmy Nom Day" July 13th. Done & Done.
— ABF (@AshleyBlaine) July 13, 2017
In 2010, Mindy Kaling became the first woman of color to earn a comedy writing Emmy nomination, so she took to Twitter to congratulate Waithe on her nomination.
https://twitter.com/mindykaling/status/893910148841734144
White’s career in media has consisted of writing for “Bones”, “Hello Cupid” and “Save Me” as well as producing “Dear White People.” She also has various upcoming writing and producing projects.
Lena Waithe is just one of various people of color to be nominated this year. She’s also one of the various LGBT women of color to be nominated. Others include RuPaul, Samira Wiley, and Laverne Cox. As the 2017 Emmys approach, it will be exciting to see how many of these nominations turn into wins.
