‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’: Patina Miller Says Raq’s ‘Ability to Love’ Makes Her Stand out
Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 2 has been a standout season for Raquel “Raq” Thomas’ (Patina Miller). Kanan’s (Mekai Curtis) mother is determined to remain at the top of the drug game despite warnings from her brothers, Marvin (London Brown) and Lou Lou (Malcolm Mays).
Though Raq seems vicious and determined, Miller insists that her character’s “ability to love” is what makes her stand out.
Raq is more than just a ‘ruthless queepin’ in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’
So much of what Raq does is motivated by her desire to win and to remain at the top of her game. However, Miller insists that her character is more than just a “ruthless queenpin.”
“I try to shy away from playing her as a ruthless queenpin,” she told Shondaland. “She is a businesswoman, a CEO. For a Black woman in the 1990s, which is the time the show is set in, she has made this world for herself. She has decided to do something for herself. She’s great with numbers. If she lived in a different time, she would probably be the CEO of a company. She is building her empire, unafraid of going out toe-to-toe to people. She is heard and loud.”
Raq’s ability to love makes her stand out
Though she doesn’t play about her business, Raq’s deep love for her family sets her apart from many other drug kingpins that we’ve seen depicted on television and in films. “So one thing that stops people a lot is that in one regard they hate Raq and then see she can be so loving, nurturing and accepting of Jukebox,” Miller told The Hollywood Reporter. “But the writers have all seen what I saw from this character: her ability to really love and how strongly she loves just as much as she can be ruthless.
“For me, that’s the beauty of what makes Raq different: her capacity to love. Having a mother who wasn’t really the mother she needed to be has made Raq want to mother in a certain way. And in a world where she feels alone, Raq is literally the only one who Jukebox can be herself with and talk to. Raq is just there to listen and not to judge her. And Jukebox is as much her child as Kanan is when you really think about it. That’s her niece. It’s where she can put her softness.”
However, Raq’s love and protective nature over Jukebox will cause some real issues with her mother, Kenya (LeToya Luckett).
Raq has been causing a lot of problems for herself in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’
Although Raq deeply loves her family, especially Kanan and Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore), she is also causing more than a few issues for herself. Her arrogance and her obsession with power may override her ability to love.
“I probably would say… Well, you know, it’s interesting because she [Raq] has the femininity of Monet, and so she’s holding down the end, but she got the authority of Ghost. So, she’s not to be played with, so I think she is almost a combination of the both of them in an interesting sort of a way,” Brown told Landon Buford. “Where she isn’t tough [enough] to where she loses her femininity, but she’s still very ladylike. She’s still gonna be nails done and hair whipped up, but you can’t cross her. She’s not to be played with or taken for granted. So, I’ll probably say maybe a combination of both.”
Hopefully, she’s able to save herself and her family before it’s too late.
