Cookie Lyon?

Who is Cookie Lyon? What is she about? As a jaw-dropping watcher of the hip and popular new television series, Empire, I can break it down and tell you exactly who the character Tarahji P. Henson portrays is!
Cookie Lyon did 17 gruesome years in a federal prison (lest she let us forget) for her scandalous, “does anything for a dollar” husband, Luscious Lyon. Though it sounds like the same sad love song, Cookie was different. Cookie understood through her test and trials, she had a family she had to take care of, and a husband who needed her to take a bid to make sure his own selfish dream could come true.
Beside her selflessness, Cookie has that “umph” about her that most black women have. Her style also makes her untouchable. She has even provoked my thoughts to wear an oversized fur coat in Louisiana’s bipolar weather. Mrs. Lyon’s perseverance comes from her cut and dryness that the hood’s dark streets and the confinement of a cold and dusty jail cell taught her. Her exquisite experience as a hoodlum taught her how to maneuver in the dog-eat-dog business world she knew nothing about.
Finally, Cookie’s love for her family, in spite of the spit-in-the face attitude they give her, is evident.
Henson’s character, Cookie, has the ability to go from 0 to 100 real quick! That has made her a household name, above the Kardashian girls, might I add. Now, I’m sure you have an idea of who her character just might be. The question I’ve really wanted to ask is, what women do you think of when you hear the name, Mrs. Cookie Lyon? Some may say their mother, others may say their favorite aunty, close friend, or even themselves personally.
What matters most is that you thought of black women in a positive light. You relate. You leveled with and understood who Cookie Lyon is and what she is about. You saw something in her that you see in other black women around you.
Cookie speaks up for black women. Her story says, “I’ve been dragged through the mud by my husband, my children, society, and those who don’t even know exactly who I am! But guess what? I am still here. I am an African-American woman and I AM STILL FABULOUS!” Cookie doesn’t look like what she’s been through and that’s what matters most in her story.
Yes, she makes moves that can take you back, but this is her environment. So, she adapts. She takes what is thrown at her and grabs it by the neck, holds on tight, and chokes it until it gives her everything she was after! (There you go, thinking of that one black woman you know!) Aha! That is what it’s all about.
I applaud the writers of this culture changing show. The writers went against the grain of how black women are portrayed and accepted in pop-culture. She is not weak, she is not broken, for she has her head held high. Cookie has single-handedly annihilated the game and how it is played! Now, we will no longer look to the mistress for her strength or the raped women for courage. Congratulations Tarahji, your name will not only go down in history as Cookie Lyon, but as, “that black women who had the heroism to change the face of African-American women in pop culture!” Thank you.