Angela Bassett and Lena Waithe in Master of None.
Netflix
Lena Waithe just became the first black woman to ever win the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series — she's also the first black woman to ever be nominated for the award. Waithe won for co-wroting Master of None's "Thanksgiving" episode with Aziz Ansari, who won in this category last year with Alan Yang for co-writing the show's "Parents" episode.
Speaking about the nomination during a GLAAD panel in August, Waithe said it speaks to the fact the industry is progressing — but added that there's still a long way to go, and mentorship is a big part of that evolution.
"We still have a lot of work to do and I’m fighting to make sure that happens," Waithe said. "I’m definitely really involved in mentorship ... because the only way it’s going to actually change is for us to not just sort of talk about it, but to look people in the eye who say, 'I want to be a writer,' and go, 'Okay, great. Give me your script. Let me take a look at it. Here’s how you can make it better,' because, again, it’s a matter of greatness. It’s, like, you have to be great to get in there. I’m still striving for greatness, but I think the biggest thing is to make sure that people of color have some guidance and some mentorship to help them get to that place. Otherwise, they don’t get in those rooms. Or they get in the rooms and they fail. That’s problematic. So I’m just sort of actively trying to help make sure people have opportunities."
via BuzzFeed/Travel
