Meghan Markle has insisted that setting “boundaries’ does not make her “demanding” in a new podcast episode.
During her podcast Archetypes, The Duchess of Sussex sat down with actress Issa Rae and comedian Ziwe Furmudoh to discuss the ‘angry black woman’ trope plaguing the entertainment industry.
Meghan’s Archetypes podcast is released weekly.
(Image: Getty)“I think a high tide raises all ships — we’re all going to succeed, so let’s make sure it’s really great because it’s a shared success for everybody,” Meghan said.
“But I also know that I will find myself cowering and tiptoeing into a room — I don’t know if you ever do that, the thing that I find the most embarrassing — when you’re saying a sentence and the intonation goes up like it’s a question.
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“And you’re like, ‘Oh my God, stop!’ Stop whispering and tiptoeing around and say what it is you need. You’re allowed to set a boundary; you’re allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding, it does not make you difficult. It makes you clear.”
Issa (left) and Ziwe sat down with Meghan to discuss the ‘angry black woman’ trope.
(Image: Getty)Issa said that advice from fellow Black women in the industry helped her become unafraid of being called a b—h and she taught herself to take negative or harsh descriptions as a compliment after a friend called her “particular.”
“I can’t lose my cool, I can’t do that, especially as a black woman, but also just even as a public figure now,” Issa said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t get angry. That might mean that I will vent my frustrations to someone that I trust.
“I want to be allowed to have that emotion because it’s a natural…like, it’s an emotion.”
Meghan reflected on her own acting career where she often auditioned for ‘stereotypical’ Black roles.
“I remember when I was auditioning, the idea of even Black roles, I remember those casting sheets where the description of the character, she always had to have an edge or an attitude,” Meghan said.
The duchess further revealed a recent genealogy test confirmed she was 43 percent Nigerian. Ziwe, who is also Nigerian-American, said Meghan’s discovery was “huge for our community.”
“I’m going to start to dig deeper into all this because anybody that I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, are like ‘What!'” Meghan said.
Ziwe responded: “No, honestly, you do look like a Nigerian, you look like my Aunt Uzo. So this is great.”
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