Black History Month: OWN’s Queen Sugar at Paley Front Row presented by Citi

Paley Front Row presented by Citi (2021). Stars and the creator of OWN’s Queen Sugar (Ava DuVernay, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Kofi Siriboe, and Rutina Wesley) gather with moderator Michele Norris at Paley’s Black History Month celebration to salute their show and Black Achievements in Television. Topics include: DuVernay’s decision to rewrite the fifth season to reflect how the Black community was affected by COVID-19 and racial unrest stemming from George Floyd’s murder; why it was considered crucial to put the show’s beloved characters in 2020’s stressful situations; how the setting’s Louisiana sugarcane farm affects all the storylines; the off-screen dynamics of “siblings” Wesley, Gardner, and Siriboe; the use of Black female directors and writers on the show; and DuVernay’s hope that the new season’s headline-inspired episodes will make viewers appreciate having survived 2020’s horrors.