Gabrielle Union Praises Octavia Spencer For Woman Crush Wednesday
Almost a year and a half ago, actress Gabrielle Union shared her first in a series of Instagram posts as part of her Woman Crush Wednesday series. Even though #WomanCrushWednesday already existed, Union decided to make it a weekly part of her life by highlighting a different woman, whether Union was friends with her or not, that Union thought should be celebrated.
This week, Union took the time to praise Octavia Spencer, whom she first met on the set of City of Angels. She discussed Spencer’s traits that made her such an amazing woman, commended her acting, and discussed all the projects that Spencer has in the works, both as an actress and a producer.
Spencer is best known for her role in the film The Help, for which she won an Oscar in 2012 for Best Supporting Actress. She is also the first black actress to receive two consecutive Academy Award nominations in back-to-back years, as well as the first black actress to receive two Academy Award nominations after a win. Spencer is also tied with Viola Davis, her co-star in The Help, as the most nominated black actress to date.
On her first #WomanCrushWednesday post ever, back in April of 2017, Union featured her BFF, Deirdre Maloney.
“I decided it’s time to start recognizing all the dope women in my life,” Union wrote then, “whether I know them personally, or look up to them from afar.”
Each week, Union’s post features a photo of the woman crush in question, a breakdown on who she is, what she has done, and what she is doing at present, as well as the other elements that make the woman special. No matter who Union features, she ends each post with “Let us lift her up in the light of goodness and hold her there.”
Union has featured countless women, from journalist Jemele Hill, actress and producer Nia Long, star of current hit film Crazy Rich Asians Constance Wu, trans activist and artist Janet Mock, Black Panther actress Letitia Wright, and singer Janet Jackson.
“If I can’t use my social media to amplify, uplift, inspire one woman a week, I mean, I can’t call myself a feminist. I can’t call myself an advocate for women. I mean like, if I can’t do that once a week? That’s the bare minimum! To me, that’s the least I can do.” Union said, according to Rolling Out.
