In extremely good news, Master of None‘s Lena Waithe and Aziz Ansari just won the Emmy for Writing for a Comedy Series, making Lena the first black women to do so.
The win was for season two’s phenomenal episode, ‘Thanksgiving‘, a multi-decade episode that follows Lena’s character Denise coming to terms with her sexuality and coming out to her family, as told through multiple Thanksgiving dinners. It was a beautiful piece of television that was the highlight of one of this year’s best seasons of television, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you really, really need to.
Accepting the award for both of them, Lena gave a shout-out to the entire queer community.
“My LGBTQIA family, I see each and every one of you. The things that make us different — those are our superpowers. Every day when you walk out the door throw on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world, because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren’t in it. And for everybody out there that showed us so much love for this episode, than you for embracing a little Indian boy from South Carolina and a queer black girl from the heart of Chicago. We appreciate it more than you could ever know.”
The episode was based on Lena’s own experiences of growing up black and queer. As she told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year:
“There’s so much of me in that episode of television. It’s a beautiful tribute to my family, to black women everywhere, to black matriarchs. It’s just such a wonderful ode to my childhood and my growing up and my evolution as a woman and being comfortable with myself.”
Aziz and Lena – but especially Lena – are being heaped with praise for their win.
Going directly from Aziz & Lena Waithe winning to Kumail presenting the next Emmy would have blown my mind as a kid. How awesome. 🇺🇸
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) September 18, 2017
not only is she incredible talented & gracious @LenaWaithe is the FIRST black woman to win an #EMMY for comedy writing #MasterofNone
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) September 18, 2017
Lena Waithe is the first African-American woman to win a Writing award! and damn well-deserved too
— David Sims (@davidlsims) September 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/IssaRae/status/909598743720108033
https://twitter.com/rgay/status/909591601315446784
AND SHE FROM THE CRIB https://t.co/NJYpYzZd0F
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) September 18, 2017
Congrats you legend!
