Queen Latifah Wants to Give Female Filmmakers a Voice

Queen Latifah. Photo by Erik Pendzich/REX/Shutterstock (9360376da)

Listen up because the Queen has a new proclamation.

Star actress, Queen Latifah, has decided to launch an initiative which will empower more women to give voices to their stories.

Encouraged by the struggle she faced herself as a woman of color in Hollywood, the Queen Collective aims to assist female directors in the industry.

“I do not fit the typical mold of what then was looked at as an A-List actor — say size two, blonde, short, thin. They’re all out the window when it comes to me. So I mean, everything had to change. I had to really change a lot of people’s minds and earn a lot of people. And also create my own endeavors because people just didn’t get it,” she told PEOPLE.

The Queen Collective will now attempt to alter that narrative by encouraging women to submit their stories. Two will then be chosen, and have assistance to fund and distribute their film, all under Latifah’s guidance.

“White guys have been able to tell their story in every sort of way, and unfortunately it hasn’t been that way for women. And it hasn’t been that way for people of other colors or genders,” says the Oscar winner. “That’s the part that’s missing. We want to make sure that everyone is allowed to tell their story.”

We’ll be watching.