Actress Lynn Whitfield who plays family matriarch Lady Mae in OWN’s hit church drama, Greenleaf recently compared her character to black women leaders in America.
“I like her, she’s got a lot to learn,” she explained to Black Enterprise. “As a black woman in America, I feel that Lady Mae is one of those women who have been a backbone of America. She’s of the same prototype as the Julia Purnell [former President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.]. She’s the president of the Deltas [Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.], and the Links [The Links, Incorporated]. She’s a part of the same spirit, but not in the political sense. She has a strong point of view, like a Barbara Jordan or a Shirley Chisholm, as many of these socially conscious and social butterfly women have had. The black women that pushed forward a lot of important things in this country. At the end of the day, at the center of everything, family is very important to her.”