Television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes has defied racial barriers and crossed these lines time and time again. Winner of the Norman Lear Achievement Award at the Producers Guild Awards, Rhimes has always been praised for casting diverse characters in her work.

Although some call Rhimes a trailblazer, she opposes this title by saying, “It’s not trailblazing to write the world as it actually is.” Her productions present her efforts to mirror realistic, everyday people in the characters she creates.

ABC’s Thursday night primetime lineup, Thank God it’s Thursday (TGIT), consists of three of Rhimes’ most popular hit series: “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder.” This monumental breakthrough in television history is catapulted to another level by the fact that each one of these series highlights lead characters who are black, strong and intelligent.

In “How to Get Away with Murder,” two­-time Screen Actor’s Guild and Emmy award winner Viola Davis portrays criminal defense attorney Annalise Keating. Davis has masterfully created a living and breathing oxymoron in her portrayal of her character. In one scene, Davis is so intimidatingly powerful that you find it difficult to breathe, and yet she is desperately vulnerable. You can’t help but find yourself weeping with her through her consistent knockout performances.

In “Scandal,” Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) is a crisis manager running her own firm called Olivia Pope & Associates, dedicated to making the impossible possible in the world of politics.

Pope is seen as a fierce leader of her associates, AKA “gladiators,” and a professional, powerful woman with a complicated past. Washington has won multiple awards for her portrayal as Olivia Pope.

The most popular show in Rhimes’ TGIT lineup, “Grey’s Anatomy,” has multiple black women playing characters who are powerful women. These characters include the Chief of Surgery, Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), head of Cardiothoracic, Doctor Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) and Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen) who is also the millionaire board chairman of the Harper Avery Foundation.

By viewing television through Rhimes’ looking glass, we finally have an opportunity to see black women portrayed as brave, resilient, complex, successful and admirable.

Rhimes is redefining what not only a woman, but an African American woman, can achieve in Hollywood today and the future.