Loni Love talks about the importance of supporting Black media at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood ceremony.
Baller Alert stepped on the #BlackGirlMagic-filled carpet for the Essence Black Women in Hollywood gathering, and while there, ”The Real” co-host Loni Love talked about the importance of Black people supporting one another in the entertainment industry.
“You know what, it’s important for us to support our media. It’s important for us because you know we start one way and then it can grow. But, the only way that can happen is if we all support each other,” Love explained. “We’ll take stories from a Baller Alert and report it on “The Real” and things like that, and you know we’ll use it as a jump-off point, and that’s how we grow as a culture and as a medium.”
The comedic actress also mentioned that regardless of the “good or bad,” she’ll always stop for Black media. “I love my people, and we’re vocal, and we’re emotional, and you know we can all learn something from each other. So, I have no problem with that.”
When it comes to her journey in the industry, Love said that’s she’s learned that she is stronger than what she thought she was. “When you’re on a daily talk show, you have to reveal parts of yourself, where you’re like, ‘Why did I say that?’ Then you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s okay.’ But, also, when you do that, there is someone out there that always contacts me and says, ‘Girl, I went through the same’ or ‘I didn’t know I was the only one.’ So, then you realize, ‘Okay, it’s okay because I’m helping someone,’ and that’s the whole purpose.”
Love then shared her own personal story about when she was pursuing a career in the industry, in which she asked her boss to lay her off to save another person so she could have her time free to work towards her dreams. She said her best advice to anyone trying to make it is to “work hard.”
“I’m just telling anybody, you just gotta hang in there. But you also gotta plan. Don’t think you gon’ be a rapper if you ain’t got no raps if you ain’t got no way to get into a studio, you gotta plan all that out. But people don’t want to plan, they just want it to happen,” said Love. ”And it’s not necessarily that someone is going to help you, you can do it. Save up the money, get in the studio, write your raps, do it yourself, and throw it out there. You never know. There might times when people will help you, but when you really want to do something, you gotta plan it yourself. You gotta plan it. And stick to the plan.”
Her last message was to never let anyone discourage you away from your goals. “No one ever thought that they would see me on television. ‘Oh, you’re not, look at how you look. You’re dark-skinned, you this, you’re that…okay,’” said Loni, mocking her haters.
Watch the full interview below:
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