My Weekend Crush

Admittedly, I have not kept up with “Orange Is the New Black.” I started to lose enthusiasm after the show killed off Poussey (call it the Dana Fairbanks Effect, if you will). And I skipped all of last season. But I will always appreciate the show for being one of the first to successfully Trojan Horse the white audience into caring about the stories of black and brown women. I am thankful for its telling of the stories of lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer women, particularly WOC and poor women. I welcome its exposure of our criminally unjust justice system. And generally it deserves recognition for being one of the first official shows of the Binge Generation. (Yes, yes - I know we had “marathons” back in the day, but binging is different and we all know it.) And I deeply respect its founding of the Poussey Washington Fund, a criminal justice reform fund that will support nonprofits. So thank you, OITNB, for being there. For telling human stories, for connecting us to people we might otherwise ignore. And, yes, I promise one day I will go back and finish. I will watch it all. Because, in the end, the show deserves it. Happy weekend, all.