Making Black History Moments (MBHM) – On October 20, 2019, Watchmen The Series episode one aired on HBO staring Regina King as Angela Abar (aka Sister Night) who won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

The last several years have marked an amazing shift in a world near and dear to my heart. Growing up as one of the geek girls who loved comic books and graphic novels, I didn’t get to see a lot of black females between the pages of those books nor in most of the Saturday morning cartoon adaptations. Now that’s not to say there weren’t any but most were hidden. Our one big shining light was Ororo Munro aka Storm of the X-Men and technically I wonder if anyone has given much thought to the fact that Halle Berry was casted as both Storm in the Marvel films AND Catwoman in one of the DC films most of us would like to scrub from our brains.
Fortunately, someone finally got the message and started serving us up some Black Girl Magic and I finally got to see Wakanda in all of its glory 6, count ‘em, 6 full times in the theater in multiple cities in fact. I finally got to see strong, vulnerable, intelligent and beautiful black women painted in a richer hue rounding out a fuller picture of women who I can identify with into the Comic Book canon.

While DC lagged behind in the movie category with representation, they managed to put in some work on the small screen. Iris West gives me Lois Lane vibes but with a different kind of sparkle.

And then there’s Marvel serving up the realness of Gamora, aka Kick Ass aka #1 stunna aka ladyboss I’ll stop now because this could get ridiculous. I was prepared to HATE Guardians of the Galaxy, but Gamora… 🤷🏾♀️.

Sliding in near the Endgame came Maria “Photon” Rambeau and because there’s so much I could say here that would probably be spoilers, I’ll just say that it’s not surprising and it is highly satisfying that this actress is about to play a 00 real soon. 😆

And just when at least expected it, DC assembled another black girl ensemble for Black Lightning. I wasn’t sold on the first couple of episodes but seriously, a daughter-mother-daughter team up? Yes, please 🙋🏾♀️! I’m glad I hung in there because we’re getting treated to all kinds of character growth and the soundtrack is SLAMMIN’ every week!

“Fish” Mooney
This one makes me want to cry. I LOVE Jada Pickett-Smith’s portrayal of Fish. She was just so smooth with it and was by far my favorite part of Gotham.

Last but not least is the Bad Bitch herself, Amanda Waller. First, let me say that I REALLY need to see Viola Davis and Will Smith in more good movies together because let’s be honest, Suicide Squad was…meh. But those two can really act and I wanna see them take the gloves off, but I digress.
Amanda Waller is stone cold. She is powerful and tough and broken in ways that you don’t get to fully see in the movie but I really do hope that DC will figure out how to do her justice on the big screen (See what I did there? Don’t say I never gave you DC people a little something.)
In all, I am so glad that little black girls (AND EVERYBODY ELSE) is getting a chance to see black women portrayed as real, full people. Heroes and Villains. Lovers and Fighters. Inventors and Bosses. We’re definitely on the right track.
Marta C. Youngblood is the founder and creative engine behind TheWRITEaddiction creatives co-op founded in 2014 as a virtual community supporting writers from all over the United States of America. Marta’s passion drives her to support the success of creatives from all walks of life to honor their talent and share it with the world. She believes that working in our creative callings does not have to be synonymous with being a “starving artist” and helps creatives master the business skills and strategies they need to work in their gifts.