'Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising' airs Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
ABC News's Soul of a Nation is giving Black actresses their flowers in a powerful new special titled, Screen Queens Rising.
The special explores how Black actresses, a historically overlooked and undervalued group in Hollywood, have recently begun to ascend to the top echelons of entertainment and American culture. The special features interviews with familiar faces that have dominated our screens, including Halle Berry, Tessa Thompson, Debbie Allen, Jackée Harry, Marla Gibbs and Regina Hall.
In ET's exclusive clip, Berry reflects on her legacy as the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002 and how, 20 years later, she remains the only Black woman to have won the award. In the clip, GMA3: What You Need to Know co-anchor T.J. Holmes recites Berry's acceptance speech, highlighting the hope the 55-year-old actress held for future women of color in the industry.
"For every nameless, faceless woman of color who now has a chance because this door has been opened tonight. You said that 20 years ago, has that come to fruition?" he asks Berry.
"I've been asked this question so many times as if I should have the answer, but I don't. But I will say this, I do feel completely heartbroken that there's no other woman standing next to me in 20 years," the Bruised actress and director responds. "I thought, like everybody else, that night meant a lot of things would change. That there would be other women. I thought I would have the script truck back up to my front door and I'd have an opportunity to play any role I wanted. That didn't happen. No other woman is standing there."
But despite that disappointment, Berry asserts that she does believe her win's legacy has flourished in other ways -- most notably in how it seemingly inspired Black creatives to "dream big." The actress stresses that awards cannot be the sole measure of one's artistry and hard work, especially within award systems that continually struggle to reflect the diversity and evolution of culture and media.
"When I look around and I see my brothers and sisters working and thriving and telling their own stories from their point of view, I'm proud of that," Berry says. "And I see the movement forward. And I think that night inspired so many of those people to dream those dreams."
Not winning the award "doesn't take anything away from those performances or who they are as artists," she explains. "I think we have to start to change our perspective because it's clear that we may not change how the awards are handed out. But in lieu of changing that, what can we change? We can change our participation within the industry. We can change how hard we fight to tell our stories, the scripts we write."
Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising airs Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. The special will reveal the lead actresses playing Celie and Sofia in the film in Warner Bros.' film adaptation of the beloved musical, The Color Purple, and feature an exclusive clip of producer Oprah Winfrey delivering the casting news to one of the actresses. Taraji P. Henson has already been confirmed to portray Shug Avery in the adaptation.
Screen Queens Rising will also include the return of the fan-favorite In the Kitchen discussion, moderated by The View co-host Sunny Hostin.
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