It was one of those good days.  I had this splash-happy breakfast of multigrain pancakes and chicken-apple sausage.  Four glasses of water before noon and you know THAT deserves props.  The night before my friend Trei and I saw Patrice Leconte's THE GIRL ON THE BRIDGE at The French Institute.  And I was blown away by the film's poetry, eroticism and examination of the power between strangers.  I'm telling you I woke up ready to turn my screenplay into the masterpiece I knew it could be... after some serious rewrites of course, producer notes, etc. Point is... I was really feeling good about being me, about being artiste.

So I'm sitting in my favorite cafe in Brooklyn, laptop open, tea steeping, and then I get THE phone call.  A frantic call from my friend and actress Claire.  She moved back to New Orleans after Katrina to help with her family's transition as well as break into N.O's new booming film industry.  [Over 60 films are scheduled to shoot there this year].  But her call wasn't about New Orleans or the mold in her parents’ home, she had read my blog about being the only color on the Picket and she was hyped.  Another friend of hers, a writer in Los Angeles, was feeling the same way.  And Claire was needing to purge: "This is THEIR world and I'm sick of it."  Oh, she didn't stop there:  "The strike isn't even about us [colored folk].  They expect us to stand on that line for what?  So they can continue to NOT hire us, NOT cast us..."  She had some other choice words, but let's just say some ears "ain't ready for people". 

Since I gave up position as consoling soundboard to my artist-friends a few years ago, I decided to offer Claire a blast of real.  So I said, quote: Certainly the industry is dominated by "them". We're only 13 percent of the nation's population.  This is NOT Nigeria.  And certainly we can complain about the lack of opportunities created by “them” for “us”, but if this strike and absence of work has re-instilled anything it is to DO OUR OWN STUFF.   The internet is certainly not the final frontier, but it damn sure is wide with opportunity.  We can create our web series, films.  They don't have to be Hollywood glossy, but to do something for ourselves is a start and the only real way to self-empower and bring back the joy of being artists.  Unquote.

Claire got quiet.  I kind of shocked myself.  And the call ended with a bit more hope.  I think.

But I couldn't help to feel like I discovered something new in the call.  I'm on strike, yes.  The issue of internet streaming is urgent, yes.  Another friend losing his pilot with CBS is daunting, yes.   But that call with Claire grounded me.  This strike is not just serious; it's a serious opportunity.  I thought of my great-great-uncle Willis who after graduating from Meharry applied to every hospital and clinic east of the Mississippi, but finally decided to move to Columbus, Georgia and create his own practice.  He had great success.  It's time to pull to the side of the road, open our trunks like Tyler Perry and sell our goods.  We're artists and we're here to create by any means.  Oh yeah, it was one of those good days.

Keith Josef Adkins is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter.