Raamla Mohamed created Hulu's latest series centering Black women, Reasonable Doubt. And we love anything created by a Black woman for Black women.
Mohamed is best known for her flawless work on "Little Fires Everywhere," but now she's leaving no crumbs behind with the debut of her new legal drama. Joined by Kerry Washington who executive produced and directed the series, and the legendary Larry Wilmore who co-produced the series, Mohamed also had an all-Black writer’s room to tell an authentic story of Black love, power and the law.
Centered around Jax Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi), Reasonable Doubt is about a lionhearted L.A. native and defense attorney who essentially knucks and bucks through the justice system. Her questionable ethics and wild interpretations of the law and life in and outside the courtroom encapsulate this high-powered woman. Like most Black women, Jax is trying to figure out how to be everything to everyone all the time, and she finds herself in a few entanglements — one of which happens to be with her former client, convicted murderer Damon (Michael Ealy).
There is so much intentionality behind this series that even the series and episode titles are inspired by Jay-Z's discography, from his debut studio album, which inspired the series’ name to episodes titled, "N**** What, N**** Who," "99 Problems", and "Song Cry." While there's nothing like it, the show is reminiscent of Scandal and Insecure, two beautiful reflections of Black women.
“I felt it from the moment I read the script. Oh, this is different. We don't always get to see Blackness, but also now tied into a woman who's professional and good at her job. It doesn't have to be either or,” Corinealdi told xoNecole. The actress shared that it was important to Mohamed that Blackness was represented in the most authentic way.
Michael Ealy also told xoNecole why he loves Black women and why Corinealdi’s role as Jax is so important. “I think Black women are not a monolith. Black people are not a monolith. I think there's an expectation that all Black women believe the same thing. I think that when you see a character like Jax, you see a character that is doing what most Black women have to do, which is they do it all,” said Ealy.
Reasonable Doubtpremiered Tuesday, September 27, on Hulu.
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