On a Saturday morning in downtown Atlanta, S. Epatha Merkerson stood in a room full of Black women who knew exactly what it cost to get there. That weight was not lost on her.
The veteran actress, best known for nearly two decades as Lt. Anita Van Buren on “Law & Order” and currently starring as Sharon Goodwin on NBC’s “Chicago Med,” received the On Her Shoulders Preservation Award at the Black Women Film Network’s 2026 Annual Summit, held at the Loudermilk Conference Center.
As she approaches 40 years in television, the recognition was different than most. Merkerson has won a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Emmy Award for the HBO film “Lackawanna Blues,” earned four NAACP Image Awards and two Tony nominations, and built a career that spans generations of Black storytelling.
“I wish I could tell you some of the struggles that I’ve had to stand here today,” Merkerson told the crowd. “That you acknowledge those struggles, just thank you. Thank you so much.”
The summit, themed “Unbreakable Lens: The Power of Community,” drew creatives, executives, and emerging talent from across the country to 40 Courtland St. NE for a full day of programming centered on collaboration across film, television, and digital media. The gathering arrives at a complicated moment for the industry. According to a 2025 report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, women of color made up just 5.4 percent of directors among the top 100 grossing films in 2025, and only 25 of the top 100 films that year featured a lead or co-lead from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, a sharp decline from 37 the year before. For the women in that room, those numbers were not abstract.
Also being honored during the ceremony was actress Danielle Brooks. The Oscar-nominated actress, who broke through as Taystee in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” and earned Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for her turn as Sofia in the Warner Bros. adaptation of “The Color Purple,” received the AcceleratHER Award. A Tony nominee for her Broadway portrayal of Celie in the stage revival of “The Color Purple,” Brooks has built one of the more quietly remarkable careers in the industry, one forged without Hollywood’s traditional on-ramps.
Standing in familiar waters of the south, where she grew up, she did not mince words about what the moment meant.
“We made it,” Brooks said. “I grew up in the South, so to be recognized by other people from this town, it means a lot, because it takes a lot to get to this point. To not come from the industry and Hollywood, you really being self-made, and not only being made, but the community or the people that lifted me up, this community lifted me up from my early beginning. So it means a lot.”
The two headliners were joined by four other honorees whose work spans nearly every corner of the business. Angela Cannon, executive vice president of networks and content strategy and general manager at UP Entertainment and AspireTV+, received the PowerbrokHER Award. Felicia Pride, showrunner on the forthcoming “A Different World” sequel, took home the StoryTellHER Award. Sheila Ducksworth, executive producer of “Beyond the Gates” and president of the NAACP and CBS Studios joint venture, was presented the ProducHER Award. Vanzil Burke, founder of Burke Entertainment Partners, received the AmplifHER Award.
The panels running throughout the day reflected where the industry actually is right now, not where it likes to present itself. Conversations touched on branded content as a funding strategy, documentary distribution, AI tools for independent creators and mental health in media. A dedicated session on microfilm and microdrama, moderated by television and film executive Ashley McFarlin and featuring writer-director Dr. Kimberly Latrice Jones, attorney Keisha Perry Walker, actress and producer Rolonda Rochelle, and screenwriter LaJill Hunt, tackled monetization and distribution strategies for short-form content, a format drawing increasing attention from Black creators seeking pathways to audience and revenue outside traditional studio pipelines.
Jones, speaking to the significance of a room where emerging voices and industry veterans occupied the same space, offered what amounted to the day’s throughline.
“It’s a circle of time,” Jones said. “The old has to connect with the new and everything in between, so that we grow by circulating and sharing information with each other. “
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