Tracee Ellis Ross took home the award for Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical for her leading role on the ABC sitcom Black-ish at last night's Golden Globe Awards. It turns out that she is the first black woman to win the award since 1983, when Debbie Allen won for starring in the NBC series Fame. A black woman had not been nominated for the category since 1984. Ross was one of two black women nominated this year, the other being Issa Rae of HBO's Insecure.
"This is for all the women of color and colorful people whose stories, ideas and thoughts are not always considered worthy and valid and important," said Ross in her acceptance speech. "But I want you to know that I see you. We see you."
She also spoke on the importance of her all-black sitcom:
"It is an honor to be on this show, Black-ish, to continue expanding the way we are seen and known, and to show the magic and the beauty and the sameness of a story and stories that are outside of where the industry usually looks."
"I never felt like I was in my mother's shadow," Ross said of the great Diana Ross. "I always felt like I was in my mother's embrace." Diana Ross won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer in 1973.
With the history-making award and Ross' speech addressing the need for people of color to be represented on TV and in movies, an old tweet from President-elect Donald Trump regarding Black-ish has received viral notoriety. In late 2014, Trump sent out a tweet suggesting that ABC should not be permitted to have a show called Black-ish. He imagined the "furor" that would ensue if a show were to be called Whiteish, implying that the viability of Black-ish is indicative of a double standard in Hollywood.
