AfterEllen.com highlights Black Lesbian Women in Entertainment

"In case you didn’t know, February is Black History Month", says afterellen.com although Im sure most of us in the US learned of BH Month during, say, childhood - I'm sure there are more than a few who don't bother to recognize or even celebrate..but not here!



I wanted to spotlight, Afterellen.com for highlighting two African American women who are doing their thing in the entertainment biz, producer, director and writer, Angela Robinson and my girl, actress Jasika Nicole. Congrats to the pair of them!

 

38-year-old Angela Robinson is a film and TV producer, director, and writer who has been involved with a host of queer projects, including executive producing several episodes of The L Word. Robinson directed the 2005 satirical spy film D.E.B.S., which starred Jordana Brewster and Sara Foster in an unlikely lesbian relationship, as well as the always-stunning Meagan Good as simply badass in general. Among Robinson’s most recent projects is Girltrash!, the black-and-white online webseries that stars lesbian favorites Rose Rollins, Gabrielle Christian, Mandy Musgrave and Margaret Cho. Robinson’s ability to create fun and sexy films while subversively incorporating her ideas about gender and sexuality politics has brought queer women’s agenda to a more mainstream audience. Her commitment to portraying diverse lesbian and bisexual women in the media has also given voices to the many queer women who are often ignored from mainstream media. For Robinson’s impressive work from D.E.B.S. to The L Word to her upcoming Girltrash! movie, her overall contributions to the realm of queer women and queer women of color make her an exemplar of the continued progress towards increased visibility in the media.

As a young black actress, Jasika Nicole is living proof that a woman can be out in public and still land great roles (read: not a homicidal lesbian vampire) on TV, like her current role as FBI Special Agent Astrid Farnsworth in Fox’s sci-fi series Fringe. Nicole’s refusal to hide her sexuality from the industry is encouraging for other females in the spotlight to freely express themselves as well while simultaneously maintaining a successful career. Furthermore, Nicole is vocal about the intersection of her sexuality with her identity as a black woman, and understands the nuances of having multiple identities — not just the queer one.

Over the past few years, Nicole has garnered a wide following of supporters of her blog, her art, and her burgeoning acting career. Her body of work includes the character Egypt in the Antonio Banderas film Take the Lead, The Return of Jezebel James alongside Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose, and the role of Gisella on Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2005. A Jasika-of-all-traits, she also designs eco-friendly tote bags and is currently developing her comic High Yella Magic into a graphic novel.