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Today is FINALLY here! Thank God It’s Thursday or commonly known as TGIT! We, well, most of us gazillion viewers, have experienced 10 weeks of Shondaland withdrawal. Shonda Rhimes, owner of Shondaland, did a 10-week shutdown to regroup, relax…maybe, and then write up the continuing story lines for her amusement park characters who spill their tea and drive us to wine and popcorn until Spring. But we don’t care because it is worth the admission tickets, dizzy spells, high blood pressure spikes and tests of our insanity.

As the hours draw near to TGIT, I noticed a picture that features three African-American actresses – two who are part of Shondaland and one who violently left one network prime time drama and is now causing drama on another show that airs on TGIT-Eve if you will. In the photo, Taraji P. Henson, who plays “Cookie” in the new FOX megahit, “Empire” ‘alerts’ Kerry Washington’s “Olivia Pope” from Scandal that she’s killed ‘Boo Boo Kitty’ her nemesis on “Empire.” “Olivia” does her ‘Handled’ thing and then alerts Viola Davis’ “Attorney Annalise Keating” who tells her to call her in the morning because she’s taken her face off(referring to the EPIC wig/eyelashes/face removal episode before asking her husband why was his penis on a dead girl’s phone). I shared the photo and immediately it got plenty of laughs and some saying it is about time Black women ruled network television.

This has also caused other memes to show up with “Cookie” and “Olivia” being pitted against each other, which some have frowned upon saying it should not be like that because both actresses are excellent in their talents. I think the memes are all in fun, but I see their point. Henson and Washington are extremely talented in their own right. And it’s funny how their current characters are placed in memes against each other. This was not the case when Henson and Washington once shared Thursday nights. Henson was the female lead in the CBS prime time action drama, “Person of Interest” playing a strong, independent police officer facing weekly games of who’s next alongside Henry Cavill’s mysterious character. “Person of Interest” aired an hour before “Scandal” but “Person of Interest” was also at the time, pitted against those watching “Grey’s Anatomy.” I managed to juggle between the two shows, but I admit I was more dedicated to “POI” until Henson’s character was gunned down. But there was never any memes of Pope vs Joss Carter. I guess they felt it was not needed because ‘Joss Carter’ was not controversial enough to even consider it. Joss Carter represented a strong, black woman who was a single parent with a pressured job that eventually led to her demise. Olivia Pope is strong…to a point, but her flaws are far more open than that of Carter’s. But we, myself included, lean to juicy drama and Pope gives it.

When I notice the hoopla of Cookie, Olivia and Annalise, I also wonder about the other Black actresses with lead roles on prime time TV. Oh, you thought these 3 were it? Nope.

Nicole Beharie, who portrayed Jackie Robinson’s wife in the motion picture, “42,” is in season 2 of playing the lead female role of a detective in a small town in another FOX series, “Sleepy Hollow.” Yes, it deals with the supernatural and the history of the urban legend, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” also known as the back story behind the Headless Horseman. “Sleepy Hollow” also has a diverse cast of actors in this drama, which is very good, in my opinion, whose focus is not on race relations but stopping evil per episode with Beharie’s character, Det. Abbey Mills and Tom Mison’s Ichabod Crane as the unlikely crime-fighting duo. Then you have Jada Pinkett-Smith and Zabryna Guevara from another FOX series, “Gotham.” Gabrielle Union-Wade of “Being Mary Jane.” And, of course, Tracy Ellis Ross from the ABC sitcom, “Black*ish,” which airs during the second half hour of “Empire.” Originally some viewers were not feeling “Black*ish” calling it not funny, unrealistic. BUT as soon as “Empire” debuted, some of those same viewers favored the sitcom over the hip-hop controversial drama. Thing is, whether we care to admit it or not, a lot of these fictional story lines have a thread in our real lives one way or another. Writing characters not only takes imagination, but sprinklings of truth and real life. There is always some truth in fiction thanks to witnessing some things, knowing some people (There are PLENTY of “Cookies” in our families, regardless of race or background).

Am I saying celebrate them all? No, that is completely up to you. But embrace the actresses who have to fight constantly on the mean streets of Hollywood to get work. And when they find work, cheer for all of them. Black women actresses are getting noticed, now the hard part is keeping them in the spotlight and kicking the doors open for more to run in.