Did you stick around after the Super Bowl to watch the reboot of “The Equalizer” on CBS?
If you did, you might have found yourself thinking, “All hail the Queen!”
Dana Owens — known popularly as Queen Latifah — took on Robyn McCall’s role, a reimagining of the lead in the classic series. As the LA Times pointed out, we’re way overdue to see a Black woman embody the action hero role in reviving the genre. We haven’t been treated to this variety of a heroine since Pam Grier lit up the screen in the 70s.
Yet, the timing feels perfect!
In a year when Stacy Abrams flipped Georgia and Kamala Harris was inaugurated vice president of the United States, what makes more sense than a Black woman action hero?
It takes moxie to become a superhero, and Owens has it. Here’s how:
Moxie looks out for the little guy.
The Equalizer’s premise is that McCall is a former CIA agent who puts her unique skills to work evening out the odds for helpless victims who are caught in the clutches of, particularly evil and powerful foes.
So it is with Owens in real life, too. She’s used her clout as an icon to lift promising artists.
She founded the Queen Collective to finance and mentor promising Black women filmmakers. She formed the management company Flavor Unit and helped renegotiate her artist friends out of bad deals and better ones.
“We all got signed to record deals, but sometimes with different companies,” Latifah told an interviewer. “Some deals were really bad, so the first thing we wanted to do was renegotiate and get them better ones. And that’s how we decided we needed to do a management company. We were taking care of our family.”
Wherever Owens has had the opportunity, she’s elevated people and ideas that might otherwise have been overlooked or exploited. That takes REAL moxie!
Moxie doesn’t stay in its lane.
The scope of Owens’ moxie is difficult to contain. At this point, her resume makes Oprah look like a slacker.
She started as a rapper but has added actor, director, producer, jazz singer, talk show host, model, and mentor. Her crowded trophy cabinet includes a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, and an Academy Award nomination.
It takes moxie to be excellent at so many things, and Owens has it.
Moxie minds its business and expects you to do the same.
Owens has been ever-present nearly everywhere for a couple of decades. She’s on the red carpet. She’s on magazine covers. She’s on the big screen. She’s on the small screen. She’s in your ears on your playlist. She’s in the boardroom. The one place she doesn’t care to show up? Gossip pages.
Owens’ private life is private, and she wants to keep it that way. Speculation has swirled for years about her romantic life, but she has steadfastly refused to discuss it. It’s an interesting choice, especially since relationships can be leveraged to gain publicity and currency, mainly if that relationship is with another celebrity. New hookups, breakups, and children are all fair game in this day and age of “digital transparency.”
It takes moxie to take ownership of your reputation and set healthy boundaries, and Owens has it.
If I ever get to sit down with Owens, what should I ask?
Queen Latifah’s Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Latifah
2021 The Equalizer’s TV Series-Reboot starring Queen Latifah’s Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Equalizer_(2021_TV_series)
1985–1989 The Equalizer TV Series’ Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Equalizer
