Amanda Idoko, a writer on the animated series Central Park, started the #ShowUsYourRoom challenge on social media Tuesday. The initiative aims to encourage people from the writers’ room of Hollywood shows to share pictures to prove how inclusive the industry has become.
“Being in a diverse room means not carrying the exhausting weight of being the only,” Idoko captioned a photo of her room. “It means working in a space that looks the way the world does. I’m proud of the way my room looks. Are you? If so, let’s see it 🙂 #ShowUsYourRoom #ShowUsYourRoomChallenge #RepresentationMatters.”
Being in a diverse room means not carrying the exhausting weight of being the only. It means working in a space that looks the way the world does. I’m proud of the way my room looks. Are you? If so, let’s see it 🙂 #ShowUsYourRoom #ShowUsYourRoomChallenge #RepresentationMatters pic.twitter.com/FMAhjisHwy
— Amanda Idoko (@amidoko) September 18, 2018
The TV writer spoke to Variety about creating the initiative. “This is a time where everyone is talking about diversity and inclusion,” Idoko told the publication. “Everyone’s saying they’re promoting diversity and inclusion, but every year the numbers are the same. People are saying they want diversity and inclusion but not actually fighting for it.”
She worked with the Inclusion and Equity Subcommittee of the WGA Committee of Black Writers. Idoko credited the findings of 2017 Hollywood Diversity Report for started the challenge. The report, which looked at 168 theatrical films and 1.208 TV shows, found that minorities and women remained underrepresented both in front of and behind the camera.
“Things aren’t changing because all of these studies and statistics are anonymous. Simply classifying lack of diversity as an industry-wide problem takes away personal accountability and personal incentive for people to actually stand up and fix the problem,” Idoko said.
Other series writers’ rooms shared their photos in response to Idoko’s post including Insecure, The Chi, 13 Reasons Why and Power.
#RepresentationMatters in TV writers’ rooms! Proud to be a part of the @Netflix @13ReasonsWhy writing staff. Writers' rooms… join us in this effort to promote diversity and #showusyourroom! #showusyourroomchallenge #diversitymatters #13ReasonsWhy @showusyourroom pic.twitter.com/sh9G1Bk25f
— Felischa Marye (@felischa) September 18, 2018
Thanks for accepting the challenge @LenaWaithe! #ShowUsYourRoom #ShowUsYourRoomChallenge #TheChi pic.twitter.com/Kk0s9RqFsy
— showusyourroom (@showusyourroom) September 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/SparksAnthony/status/1042142515393048576
Was so fortunate to have a writers room w/ 5 women and 1 very thoughtful dude from a wide variety of backgrounds. Why have a show about women without actual women in the room telling their stories? #ShowUsYourRoomChallenge #RepresentationMatters #FirstWivesClub pic.twitter.com/lYXMj1WZbj
— Tracy Y. Oliver (@TracyYOliver) September 18, 2018
Being in a diverse room means not carrying the exhausting weight of being the only. It means working in a space that looks the way the world does. I’m proud of the way my room looks. Are you? If so, let’s see it 🙂 #ShowUsYourRoom #ShowUsYourRoomChallenge #insecurehbo pic.twitter.com/ViVuJ3Nx3v
— Amy Aniobi (@amyaniobi) September 18, 2018
Empire writers reporting for duty. Who's next? #ShowUsYourRoom #ShowUsYourRoomChallenge #RepresentationMatters pic.twitter.com/gTapL0T4n8
— Empire Writers (@EmpireWriters) September 18, 2018
Our room on @Power_STARZ! #showusyourroom #powerstarz #powertv #showusyourroomchallenge pic.twitter.com/Cj1RpQk8YC
— Gary Lennon (@GaryPLennon) September 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/kech99/status/1042159189483675648