LaKendra Tookes

Stand-up and former newscaster LaKendra Tookes made "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-) history in 2014 when she became the first ever African-American female hired to write for the comedic institution. Born in Florida in 1983, Tookes studied Communications at both community college and her hometown's main university, also landing an on-air personality job at WRUF AM and a year-long reporting stint at WUFT News during her studies. After graduating, Tookes left the media to work as a senior recruiting specialist and personal assistant, but she eventually returned to the industry in 2010 with production assistant roles at KTLA and The Africa Channel, and then a features reporter gig with Pasadena station Crown City News. Tookes had also begun pursuing a sideline in stand-up, regularly performing at improv theater iO West, and in 2013 responded to a call-out from "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) producers looking for new African-American female talent. The show had previously attracted criticism for its lack of diversity both behind and in front of the camera, but in 2014 announced that Tookes, alongside future SNL performer Leslie Jones, would be joining the writing staff. Tookes worked on eleven episodes of the show, including those hosted by Melissa McCarthy, Louis C.K. and Andy Samberg, but producers decided not to renew her contract for the following 40th season. Tookes subsequently switched her focus to acting, landing minor roles on sketch shows "Friends of the People" (TruTV, 2014-15) and "The Characters" (Netflix, 2015-) and 80s-set comedy "Red Oaks" (Amazon, 2015-).