The dramatic expansion of Black women into creative positions in television and film production since the 1990s has introduced a previously invisible range of themes in Black women’s lives to wide audiences. In Imani M. Cheers’s richly interdisciplinary Sacred Sisterhoods, contributors offer an overdue analysis and elevation of Black women’s creative authority in popular culture: its history, successes, influence, and future possibilities. Focusing on the theme of Black women’s friendship, star voices from across academia, journalism, the arts, and activism offer critical-cultural commentary and personal reflections on the evolution of Black women directors, writers, producers, and showrunners from the 1930s through 2023. Creative visionaries from Debbie Allen to Quinta Brunson, along with shows and films from Living Single to Hidden Figures—and many others—receive their due in these rigorous, lively, and accessible essays. Spotlighting the nuances and normalcy of Black women’s sacred sisterhoods, contributors reveal the indelible mark modern Black consciousness and creative control leave on our popular culture every day in an anthology that will be essential to scholars and students of contemporary media, race, and gender, as well as to general readers. Contributors: Imani M. Cheers, Monique A. Gamble, Marquita Gammage, Kandice Harris, Crystal L. Holmes, Makeba Lavan, Rondrea Danielle Mathis, Miriam J. Petty-Adams, De Anna Reese, Randi Richardson, Beretta E. Smith-Shomade, Andrene M. Taylor, Kristen Warner, and Shauntae Brown White

Imani M. Cheers is a cultural curator, filmmaker, and academic. She is Associate Professor of Digital Storytelling in the School of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University. She is the author of The Evolution of Black Women in Television: Mammies, Matriarchs and Mistresses and curator of Framing Fatherhood: A Celebration of Black Fathers.