Earlier this year, Kofi Siriboe declared that the Black women in his family “deserve specificity.” (Leon Bennett/Stringer/Getty Images for Essence)
Kofi Siriboe has never been shy about sharing his love for Black women and at a recent press event for “Queen Sugar,” he once again made it known.
Siriboe shares top billing on the hit OWN series with actresses Rutina Wesley and Dawn-Lyen Gardner and he didn’t take kindly to a question about the show’s female-focused title.
“This dude at press this week was like, ‘So, you don’t feel like there should be a ‘King Sugar’?'” Siriboe explained to Elle magazine in a Tuesday, June 20, article. “I was like, ‘Nah!’ I said, ‘Listen, Black people, in general, have it terrible, but between Black men and women? Who’s been more deprived? Who’s been more oppressed?’
“I love Black women, and I shouldn’t have to tiptoe around that fact,” he said. “That’s not to exclude anybody — I’m all about inclusion — but there is a lot of exclusion that happens naturally, systematically and institutionally, to Black women.”
Siriboe, who will star in “Girls Trip” on July 21, knows from his mother’s experience how difficult living as a Black woman can be. He said she grew up not getting much support from her parents, but she learned from them and gave her children a lot of love
“I think that’s an example of what all Black women represent,” he said. “You know, the world kind of shuns women in general, and if you’re a Black woman, I’m sure you feel that 10 times more.”
