The entertainment industry and its TV and film writers can’t get on the same page. For the first time in over a decade, the Writers Guild of America is on strike. Shows like Saturday Night Live have already stopped production, with more to come as the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers try to reach a labor agreement.

As networks and film studios continue make record-high profits, writers are fighting for livable wages and fair compensation in the streaming era. And for the Black writers and the community at large, there’s much more at stake.

For decades, Black writers were shut out of writers’ rooms, unable to tell their own stories. As the industry changed, these scribes were only relegated to write comedy. Today, just a handful have made it to the top of the television hierarchy as showrunners. 

Anthony Sparks, a 20-year industry veteran told Trymaine Lee that for him, the strike is about making sure writing can continue to be a viable career path for people like him. Because if the industry doesn’t change, Black writers could get squeezed out, and Black audiences risk losing representation, or worse – having outsiders control it.

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For More: 

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• Comedian Cristela Alonzo explains why WGA writers are on strike
• WGA Says Strike Is Costing California’s Economy $30 Million A Day