The blaxploitation movement gave us some of the earliest instances of strong, independent and kickass women in film. These women took action into their own hands and weren't so thinly drawn that they require a man to come to their rescue. In fact, these films allowed the women to do the saving for once. The depictions of female characters in early blaxploitation films would make a great impact on cinema and how it views women. These films would also go on to inspire future filmmakers to create empowering female characters. However, out of the thousands of blaxploitation films to emerge, only a handful of actresses would make a lasting impression.

Today, we honor the strong women of the movement by taking a brief look at our five favorite actresses to emerge out of the genre and highlight a few of their notable works.