EBONY's 2021 Power 100 awardee MJ Rodriguez has been recognized as one of TIME’s Women of the Year. The honor is historic as she is the first Afro-latina trans woman to be named to the list.
On her Instagram, Rodriguez shared the news about being named to the list.
"@Time and Time again I am in awe of all the women that have inspired me,” her post read. “Now I get to inspire and pass the torch. I appreciate all of you for loving me the way you do. As I always say I am only human, but the human experience is a beautiful one. Thank you @time once again for the work we’ve done together. The powerful woman that you constantly put in front of me.”
In an interview with Time, Rodriguez stated the importance of representation.
“When I was younger, I didn’t have representation for anyone of color in the LGBTQI community,” she said. “Now I want to be the example. I want to show them that it’s possible.”
“I still am a work in progress—which I always have to say, because a lot of people think that you know, people in my position who have the title of 'celebrity,' like, we have everything given to us and that everything is laid out on the table, it’s not like that," she added.
Rodriguez came to prominence for Ryan Murphy’s Pose and Lin Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick… Boom!
She became the first trans woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award and the first trans woman to win a Golden Globe.
