Lena Waithe
This week’s Muse is… Lena Waithe
Lena is a screenwriter, producer, and actress and all around badass artist. She’s also a total queer style icon. I’ve been following her career since it rocket-launched after Master of None. She seems so grounded and purposeful, and it’s been a true pleasure to watch her come into prominence and bring her values into mainstream consciousness.
I connect with Lena’s way of approaching film and the urgency of art, and watching her latest interview on Trevor Noah really resonated with me. It strikes me that this is a person who knows what she is creating and understands the importance of her own work. If she’s ever struggled with imposter syndrome (who hasn’t?) it seems there’s no sign of it now. She exudes confident and radiance, and eloquently speaks with a quiet authority and a presence that seems to convey an, “I’m here because I worked hard, paid my dues and I figured out what it is I want to say to the world on this platform,” attitude.
To me, she represents the epitome of what I’m working tirelessly to obtain.I deeply connect with Lena’s message about an artist’s duty to reflect the times by making their personal stories accessible.
Lena talks to Trevor about diving into uncomfortable narratives as a matter of life and death.
“If I can humanize Black people enough, maybe they’ll stop killing us.”
Stories humanize. Stories help us empathize with experiences outside of our own. And stories can literally save lives by raising the consciousness and encouraging empathy. As I’m cultivating these skills within my own storytelling practice, these principles are my North Star.
I grew up in a home with a lot of gaslighting and dehumanizing behavior. My parents, and I think a lot of their generation, believed in ruling with an iron fist. I was often reminded that our home was under Totalitarian rule and I’d be better off to not forget it.
Truth Telling wasn’t exactly a value that we shared in my family growing up. Truth is complicated, layered, and messy. When you start asking questions to get to the Truth, things are bound to get uncomfortable because Truth requires self-reflection and honesty from within first and foremost.
It’s taken me a long time to get to a place where I feel safe and free to have a voice, and to come to terms with my calling which is: to tell the Truth, to be a storyteller that raises my voice and the voices of others, and to be a creative being that speaks truth to power.
It is delightful to find that Lena and I share a common goal: to tell intersectional identity stories in order to humanize, normalize and increase visibility and awareness.
There are so many stories we’ve never seen on screen that desperately need to be seen. I am deeply thankful to so many of the show creators and writers out there who are shifting are cultural consciousness.
I remember when Brokeback Mountain was on everyone’s lips. It was revolutionary to see a gay relationship on the big screen (even though -ugh straight actors-sigh-2005). I also think a lot about Transparent, and Jill Soloway’s work on queer community visibility. Work in Progress, South Side, and Atlanta are also all shows that have opened society’s eyes to the way that marginalized folks live and experience the world.
I aspire to be grouped in with all of these folks one day.
Oh and I also I also have to mention that Lena now knows a good deal about my personal story due to watching Showtime’s Couples Therapy, a documentary show that featured my wife Lauren and I.
It was important for us to represent on that show, and it totally blew me away when Lena tweeted about it.
I am so moved by Lena’s courage and her beautiful Spirit and grateful I’m an artist today who gets to witness her breaking down barriers and paving the way for generations of storytellers like myself.
You can check out her full interview here:
Muses and Musings blog content contains Sam Guilbeaux’s personal opinions and is not affiliated with any business or sponsorship. Any connection otherwise will be clearly noted.