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Seales is an interesting and gratifying presence particularly because she surpasses and redefines this term.
Congratulations on the special!
I just watched it and it was so heartwarming and hilarious.Really?
That makes me so happy!
I have three hours of interviews today, so I cant be crying already.
It was really fun to watch.
And I know youvesold a show beforeand then taken it back.
So you want to find a place that allows you to exhibit those three tentpoles.
Its not just television; its HBO, you know.
They have literally built their brand by saying [they] are doing something elevated that you wouldnt expect.
So it was that, and knowing that they would let me do what I do.
But how does it feel?
This is the profession that people constantly say is the hardest profession in showbiz.
I was the one who was willing to go up against the popular girl.
I was the one who was willing to risk looking like a fool.
That has always been my role.
It allowed me to grow my fan base organically from the ground up.
So I get the opportunity to work out my thought process and have it get better.
So in the special, you say every experience is a black experience except when it is anti-black.
When youre a black person, anti-blackness determines so much of how you choose to exist in this world.
Take for example code-switching, which black people do just to avoid dealing with micro/macro-aggressions in white spaces.
The only thing that makes it not a black experience is if you are anti-black.
You see what Im saying?
It clicked.So we have individuals who identify as black but are against blackness and against empowerment and self-love.
I dont even say their names because they are like Voldemort to me.
So thats what I mean by every black experience is a black experience unless its anti-black.
And you say the show is for my sistas.
You look atthis R. Kelly shit, and you see that no one cares about us.
And its like, we gotta care about us.
If nobody else is going to care about us, weve got to care about us.
And my special looks at different experiences that sistas are having that oftentimes do not get acknowledged.
And thats what the special speaks to.
Its been over 50 years sinceMoms Mableymade an appearance onThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Black women are skilled comics, but they are always sidelined.
Even at the very least because they make money.
Because we cant pretend like that is not a part of the conversation.
So we were seen as very useful in only a very specific way.
So for us to now be individuals with voices, unity, and power is frightening to people.
We here, and thats a fact.
