We don't talk about The Women of Brewster Place nearly enough.

Starring a who's who of greats including @Oprah, @JackeeHarry, @MsLynnWhitfield, @Therocknrobn, #PhyllisYvonneStickney, #MaryAlice, @IAmCicelyTyson, and the late Olivia Cole, the series showed the lives of various women in a brownstone called "Brewster Place."

The Harpo, Inc.-produced ABC miniseries was based on a debut novel of the same name by Gloria Naylor and was a big enough deal that it beat out airings of both The Wizard of Oz on CBS and Return of the Jedi on NBC, winning its time period Sunday and Monday nights.

Of particular interest to us on this particular evening is the storyline of Theresa and Lorraine (Paula Kelly and Lonette McKee), the lesbian couple that live alongside the other straight lead characters, fleshed out and as flawed and entertaining as all the rest of the women.

Paula Kelly is a QUEEN - a dancer who's worked with the best because she is the best. Here she is dancing Fosse in Sweet Charity alongside Shirley MacLaine and Chita Rivera in 1969.

Viewers may recognize her from Uptown Saturday Night, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, and ...When We Were Colored. She also appeared in Sophisticated Ladies alongside Phyllis Hyman in one of her many Broadway appearances, where she demonstrated the ONLY way to put on a coat.

Lonette McKee iconically portrayed Sister in the original film version of Sparkle opposite Irene Cara, singing numbers like "Jump," "Hooked on Your Love," and the two-time number one hit "Giving Him Something He Can Feel."

Her career also included notable turns in Jungle Fever, Queen, He Got Game, and Honey onscreen, as well as receiving a Tony nomination for her role in Show Boat.

In The Women of Brewster Place, Kelly and McKee give us a well-rounded, non-stereotypical Black lesbian couple - AHEM - on a major television network.
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IN 1989.

The miniseries did not shy away from showing the homophobia in the Black community, especially when it came to "religious" persons, and the well-meaning, but silent folks as well.

There was humor and heartbreak, excellently portrayed by two phenoms of cinema, who should have had careers as incredible as their talent.

I mean, let's talk about it! The internalized homophobia! The struggle. The realness. So expertly crafted in conversation.

EVERY conversation about modern representation of queer women of color, especially queer BLACK WOMEN (Pariah, San Junipero, Rafiki) needs to include The Women of Brewster Place, Paula Kelly, and Lonette McKee.

We honor them here at Pretty Dudes, and salute them. We hope the LGBTQIA+ women in our show (portrayed this season by #TiffanyCommons, #AriaSong, @AmiraJGray and others) carry the Brewster Place legacy forward.