Ashley Nicole Black Is Having a Big Bitch Summer

I recently declared it Big Bitch Summer on Twitter—and it went viral. The idea for it came to me one day as I was scrolling through my timeline and just saw so much fat shaming. There were a few examples, but the one that really stuck with me was a video of a teenage girl wearing a T-shirt and shorts at church. When she went to the bathroom, an older woman followed her in to berate her about her body. According to this person, big girls aren't supposed to wear shorts.

The girl is filming the exchange and crying as the woman tells her that she "shouldn't come back to church" until she changes. It's clear the woman feels so sure what she's doing is good, which is insane. People have this idea that fat people don't know we're fat. That we need to be told. As if it might come as a surprise to us that we're visible people in the world and that others can see us. It's inconceivable to them that we might be able to look in a mirror and feel fine about what stares back at us.

I decided I wasn't going to write a whole thing about the video but instead would attempt to fight it with some positive vibes. I thought, What's the opposite of shame? To me, it was Big Bitch Summer—a season inspired by Megan Thee Stallion's now iconic Hot Girl Summer, where we're not hiding our bodies and instead going that extra mile to have a good time.

People started responding to my tweet with their bikini pictures, selfies, and messages complimenting each other. I didn't see a single negative response. For once, the timeline was all joy. There was one picture of a black woman on the beach in her bikini, giving the camera the biggest smile. We should all be able to smile and do the most on the beach. That's what I think Big Bitch Summer is all about, having a great time instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you.

I've been channeling this energy while working on my new series, A Black Lady Sketch Show. I star on it alongside Robin Thede, Quinta Brunson, and Gabrielle Dennis—and those women will not let you have a bad day. Even if you come to work just wearing a ponytail and a T-shirt, Robin will be like, "Okay, T-shirt! I see you, casual look!"

I've been surrounded by female positivity in every arena this summer, and it's felt great. From the writers to the cast to the hair, makeup, and wardrobe departments—I am surrounded by women supporting me in my work. It's a great feeling, and it really supercharged my creativity. There was one scene where I had a long, very technically difficult monologue in front of a roomful of extras. That's tough for any actor, but I felt confident because I knew my whole crew had my back. Then, after my first take, Robin cried because she was so proud of me.

I never expected to feel so good as an actor. Before I became a writer on shows like Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, I dreamed of acting. But then I realized I didn't fit neatly into one of Hollywood's preferred types. If you're an ingenue, you're going to work. But if you're a plus-size black woman, it's harder.

It's not even that the parts are small or bad. It's that a lot of the parts written for people like me are just plain offensive. Here's an example from one of the scores of auditions I chose not to go on: a "plus-size black woman who doesn't take care of herself, and that's why she's so mean." It's like the writer thought "big and black" and then…stopped thinking.

But there's something about working with almost all women, and almost all black women, the way I do on A Black Lady Sketch Show. We're all really rooting for each other. We're writing characters with all different kinds of backgrounds and experiences, making sure they're never caricatures, and supporting one another's creative process. Two of the scenes I'm most proud of are "Invisible Spy" and "The Basic Ball." Both celebrate the awesomeness of the kinds of characters you don't usually see on TV. I wanted people to turn on a sketch show and see characters that made them say, "Oh my God! That's so me!" and laugh and feel good—not feel like the comedy was making fun of them. I think we achieved that. And working in this environment, with such incredible women, has given me the confidence to go out and have my own Big Bitch Summer.

A few weeks ago, the whole cast went to a party on a yacht (we're fancy, thank you), and someone decided we should have a photo shoot. In the past, being the big girl in the group, I'd volunteer to take the pictures. But this time I was like, "Okay, let's do this." Our head writer, Lauren Ashley Smith, took these amazing pictures (with Robin holding up my cape to give it maximum airtime) that I ended up posting on Twitter and Instagram. It was the first time I've ever posted a bikini picture—and the amazing thing was, I didn't even think about it. I was just like, "Oh, this is a hot picture," and pressed upload. But later, when I was reading all the positive comments, I realized what I'd done. I was like, "Oh my God, you're a yacht bitch now."

I couldn't believe that this was me, the same person who gave someone else my Twitter password after the first time I appeared on Full Frontal because I was so sure that all the comments on that segment would just be about my weight. (Most of them were just furious about my politics, which was refreshing?)

If you're plus-size, people love to tell you what you can't do. You can't wear shorts in church. You can't be an actor. You can't pose in a bikini. Or if you want to do those things, you'd better start working out and wait until you're thin. But the idea that you should hold off on your dreams until you lose weight is so unfair. To me, having a Big Bitch Summer isn't just about having fun. It's about the belief that you can create a moment or a whole season for yourself. You don't have to wait for someone else to give you permission to do whatever it is that you want to do. Because it's your Big Bitch Summer, and you're in charge.

Ashley Nicole Black stars on HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show. Watch it on Fridays at 11 p.m. ET.