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Girl Bosses In The Entertainment Industry Who Ignore Hollywood Stereotypes

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Hampton U chapter.

When it comes to the entertainment industry African Americans are portrayed as people “behind the scenes” or the people who are the assistant to great creators in the field, but black girl bosses have proven otherwise.

White Hollywood likes to disregard the work of African Americans in the entertainment industry by not supporting and not giving credit when it is due. Perhaps it is due to their bias views and skin color. This is not a blatant claim because it has been proven again and again at award shows and in criticism. 

Black women today try to reverse this narrative and create their own content to cater to our community. If a seat is not given, black girl bosses bring one to the table. They don’t give up and create content that no one can degrade as unacceptable. Work from minorities is needed in Hollywood to bridge the gap between the majority.

Hollywood has this perception that black women can’t be lead directors, producers, or film makers, but there are many women who are proving this to be wrong. Three women who stand out the most in our generation today are Karen Civil, Ava Duvernay, and Channing Dungey.

Karen Civil is a social media influencer and a digital marketing media strategist. Civil offers exclusive interviews with some of the most stylish, trendsetters, rappers, artists and entrepreneurs in the industry. 

Civil  has put an urban touch on modern day journalism. She is a voice that the entertainment industry needs to help represent us.

Ava Duverney is a director, filmmaker, film distributor, and producer who has done extremely well in the entertainment industry. 

If you don’t know who she is look her up because she is changing the game. She is the first African-American female director to receive a Golden Globe nomination and have a film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. 

Channing Dungey was the former ABC Entertainment President. She was the first black woman to have this position with ABC. ABC is major broadcast television network that produces a lot of content we all love. 

Dungey recently joined Netflix in a senior leadership role as Vice President of Original Content. She is a powerful force in any entertainment field. Her work has made a name for herself and has opened doors for black women in major television networks.

These girl bosses in the entertainment industry have paved a way for many young black girls. Without them breaking barriers in their platforms, we would still be oppressed by the stereotypical viewpoints of Hollywood as it pertains to black women. 

 

 

Anyaé Johns

Hampton U '21

Anyaé Johns is a graduating senior Journalism major/Leadership Studies and Cinema Studies minor from New Jersey. Anyaé is a part of the William R. Harvey Leadership Institute, HerCampus, NAACP, Phi Eta Sigma, and the Hampton Script. She is a writer and a mentor.
I have the privilege to serve as Campus Correspondent for the Her Campus Hampton U Chapter a second year! I am a graduating Senior, Strategic Communications major, Marketing minor currently studying at the illustrious Hampton University. I am from Richmond, VA (shoutout to the 804!). In addition to classes, I run my own creative agency, Tiana Nichelle Marketing where I specialize in social media management, content creation, public relations, and branding. My love for the PR and Communications industry is the reason my ultimate goal is to become a celebrity publicist in the upcoming years! Her Campus Hampton U is an organization that is near and dear to me and I am so happy to be a leader of this ELITE chapter!