[dropcap]I [/dropcap] just think it’s coming out at such an opportune time with everything that’s going on in America, between Ferguson and the police killings across the country […] I think a film like this will continue the conversation.” For Ashley Blaine Featherson, who appears later this year in Justin Simien’s Dear White People, the conversation regarding race and identity is still one of major significance in what some people allege is a “post-racial” society. The film charts the converging paths of four black students following the controversy of an African-American themed Halloween party hosted by white students and their attempts to forge their own identities against this microcosmic background. Relying heavily on tongue-in-cheek humour, Featherson argues the impetus for open discussion is not lost: “I think anything satirical in nature will make you laugh but also make you think at the same time, and ask yourself why did you just laugh at that? I think that’s why Dear White People is so brilliant.”

Whilst Dear White People is Featherson’s first foray into film, the use of humour to emphasize the underlying tensions and issues within society and, in particular, the black community, has been a significant aspect of Featherson’s career, particularly in her web series Hello Cupid, which she co-created with Lena Waithe. The series follows the lives of best friends Whitney (played by Featherson) and Robyn (Hayley Marie Norman) who decide to conduct a social experiment on the dating website Hello Cupid, in which Whitney decides to use Robyn’s picture on her profile in order to justify her theory that black men prefer lighter skinned black women. Does Featherson feel this is a common preference within the black community? “It’s very real and I think that’s why people connected to it, it can cause tension, it can cause insecurities, it can cause all of those things. I think it’s an issue that is oftentimes swept under the rug and it shouldn’t be […] I just think that’s very discriminatory and it’s not good, it’s not practicing self-love or love for others.”

The first season deals primarily with the intricacies of this social experiment and the inevitable love triangle which forms between Whitney, Robyn and the unsuspecting love interest ProudDad — the explosive aftermath of which is explored in the second season, along with more startling revelations on both sides. Not only does the show chart the trajectory of this social experiment, but also the friendship between the two protagonists and the inner struggles of identity that both face on a daily basis, the most striking of which was Whitney’s inability to embrace her own sexuality, a sexuality she constantly albeit subconsciously compares to Robyn’s, “I think that for Whitney in the first season she was suppressing it, and in the second season, she was owning it, and leaning into it.” Whitney’s femininity and confidence is particularly evident in her mannerisms towards ProudDad, with whom she is intent upon pursuing a relationship, something which Whitney had initially been reluctant to do, and which Featherson is adamant she would not, “I watch her sometimes and I’m like, ‘Whitney what is wrong with you!’”

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The multi-faceted nature of the characters created by Featherson and Waithe are truly realistic and represent the lives of young African American women who have yet to find permanence and prominence on primetime television, “If you’re a woman like me, for instance, looking for a woman like me, I’m not necessarily on television.” Whilst that may still be the case, Featherson is extremely grateful to Numa Perrier and Dennis Dortch, who were not only writers of Hello Cupid’s second season but also co-founders of Black&Sexy TV, a web channel which aims to depict a more realistic and truer account of modern African-American life and culture, “I really think they are trying to create innovative and progressive content that is filling a void that you’re not seeing on television quite yet.” Featherson applauds Black&Sexy TV for the fostering of creative and authentic shows and the opportunity to work with many talented individuals, some of whom she collaborated with in “mash-up” episodes — episodes in which Hello Cupid merged with the channel’s other series RoomieLoverFriends to create a world in which the channel’s entire cast of characters live, their lives intersecting at various points in place and time.

Featherson, however, hopes that the pilot of Lena Waithe’s Twenties may change all that, and bring the experience of twenty-something African American women to the forefront of the American consciousness in the form of a primetime television show. Featherson is all too aware of the transitory nature of millennial life, having struggled to establish herself in Los Angeles and figuring out her own sense of self, both as an individual and as an artist, “We’re missing that show exploring black girls trying to figure their lives out […] that’s who I am, that’s who my friends are.” Comparisons have inevitably been drawn to Lena Dunham’s Girls and whilst Dunham has garnered criticism for her whitewashed depiction of millennial strife, Featherson believes that “it still in many ways speaks to my experience as a twenty something year old girl trying to figure it out.” Just as the white cast of Girls is open and valid for women of colour, Featherson believes that Twenties, whose three leading female characters are black, will also depict certain truths for all viewers, “It doesn’t alienate, it’s open to anybody watching it and enjoying it because it just speaks to a really true and authentic experience.”

Dear White People release date TBA.
Hello Cupid can be seen on YouTube.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly described Featherson as a writer for Hello Cupid. Featherson co-created Hello Cupid with Lena Waithe, but is not a writer for the series. A previous version of this article also incorrectly described Featherson as the star of Dear White People. Featherson has a prominent supporting role in the film, not a starring role.