Shonda Rhimes snatched every wig, sew-in, French braid, and bantu knot in the world with last night’s episode of Scandal. It was uncomfortable. Someone clued me in that it would be an episode that I would not want to miss, but I wasn't quite prepared. At the close of the episode, I sat in solemn silence… All of my suppressed feelings – my Malcolm X diatribes, James Baldwin analyses, and Angela Davis fired-upness – had experienced a reawakening and were laid out on the front lawn to air dry... The episode, titled The Lawn Chair,  was somber. There wasn't much humor to be drawn from the show, aside from Olivia pulling out her Beyoncé privileged black girl Precious Lord shaking hand. That’s when I knew it was serious.

 The shows lead, Olivia Pope, was dispatched to do damage control and diffuse the situation after an unarmed black teen is gunned down by a white police officer. However, becoming wedged between a sketchy police department and Marcus Walker, a passionate and quick tongued communist activist, Olivia crosses the police tape, going from an advocate of the system to a voice in a crowd calling for justice.