Kia Stevens signed the petition today and posted a beautiful comment: 

"As a cast member and fan, I found elements in this show that surpassed mere amusement. When I interacted with viewers of the show they often bring up themes and situations within our various storylines that have lit a spark within their own growth or spirit and have fulfilled visions many of us had long yearned to see. I thank each of you that invested your time and hopes with us as we stand shoulder to shoulder to scream over the noise of the "bottom line" and fight for the characters of GLOW to get their ending."

Kia, Ellen, Britney, Sunita, Sydelle & Shakira also revealed the internal struggles faced by BIPOC cast in trying to dial back racist stereotypes & get more representation in the writers room.

GLOW’ has been marketed as a diverse ensemble, but for all of us diverse cast members, it has never lived up to these ideals,” Sunita Mani said on Instagram. “Since Season 1, the show has planted racial stereotyping into our character’s existence, yet your storylines are relegated to the sidelines in dealing with this conflict or have left us feeling like checked-boxes on a list. Unfortunately, we feel that the promise of this show has not been fulfilled. There is incredible support, love, and camaraderie amidst the ‘GLOW’ cast, and it should go without saying that we are not here to take down our white castmates or our show, but to elevate us all in a deeper, more significant way. With zero persons of color in the writer’s room this season, it is a huge oversight to be writing our narratives without anyone else to represent us besides ourselves.”

Their open letter is powerful. You can read full transcript  HERE & HERE

Speaking truth to power is terrifying and brave. Courage is contagious. I am reminded of Audre Lorde.

"I was going to die, sooner or later, whether or not I had even spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you.... What are the words you do not yet have? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? We have been socialized to respect fear more than our own need for language."

I began to ask each time: "What's the worst that could happen to me if I tell this truth?" Unlike women in other countries, our breaking silence is unlikely to have us jailed, "disappeared" or run off the road at night. Our speaking out will irritate some people, get us called bitchy or hypersensitive and disrupt some dinner parties. And then our speaking out will permit other women to speak, until laws are changed and lives are saved and the world is altered forever.

Next time, ask: What's the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people will yell at you. They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it's personal. And the world won't end.

And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don't miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And you will still flirt and paint your nails, dress up and party, because, as I think Emma Goldman said, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." And at last you'll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking."