This Black History Month, I’m sharing art, songs, movies, and other creative expressions from and about Black women that spark joy for me. Because Black women are often not remembered for their contributions, I thought this would be one way to give flowers to those who inspire me.
For Day 17, I’m shining a light on Erika Alexander for her work to transform the media landscape.
When Erika Alexander was a little girl, she signed her school papers "Erika Alexander - The Great." She has had a career that has lived up to that moniker. For those of us of a certain age, the first time we saw Erika Alexander on TV was as Cousin Pam on The Cosby Show. But for many, the character Erika is most known for is lawyer Maxine Shaw on the 1990s sitcom Living Single. The character made a big impact on Black girls and women. Known as the Maxine Shaw effect, eight in 10 Black women surveyed said that the character Maxine Shaw inspired them to be leaders in a male-dominated profession. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Stacey Abrams named Maxine Shaw a huge inspiration for them.
Erika Alexander went on to star in several television shows and movies and has won or been nominated for several awards, including the Screen Actors Guild award for her role in the 2023 movie American Fiction.
Alexander co-founded the organization Color Farm Media in 2017 with the mission to build an ecosystem that fosters greater equity, inclusion, and diversity in media and that empowers and elevates voices who are underrepresented, overlooked, and undervalued. Erika has said she knows storytelling has a huge impact on how we see the world, so she wants to contribute to changing whose stories get told.
“As a creator, I recognize that entertaining stories, when socially conscious and carefully constructed, have the capacity to create impact and meaningful change. As co-founder of Color Farm Media, I am on a mission to bring greater equity, inclusion, and diverse representation to both media and electoral politics.”
Thank you, Erika Alexander, for your work to transform our world through storytelling.
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