Your Entertainment Guide to Black Joy TV

It is Black History Month (it’s almost over) and the national urge to immediately consume Black trauma content has begun. You may know what I’m referring to. Roots, 12 Years a Slave, and Fruitvale Station are excellent films however they are stories that exhibit Black suffering. Plus, let’s be honest, they are not the most lighthearted watches.

Life for all of us has been pretty rough from the start of 2020 to now, so let’s bring a different kind of energy to this year’s Black History Month (not Black Future Month, we have enough to deal with Kanye). Here are some shows made by Black creators that speak to the joy of our experience.

1. Abbot Elementary

Apart from being a show led, executive produced, and created by a Black woman, Quinta Brunson, it’s extremely funny and well written. This show came out the gate with a fully-realized cast, stellar mockumentary-style comedy, and a deep insightfulness regarding public school education. It follows Janine Teagues, a second-grade teacher, teaching at a school notorious for high staff turnover. The show exhibits a deep optimism in trying to educate students and future leaders while also keeping it real with a deep understanding regarding the constraints and barriers teachers work under. Typically, it takes sitcoms a few episodes or even seasons to really hit their strides. Some may compare this show to The Office, but even that show had to work out its kinks in its first season. Comedies also live and die on where the show itself is set. A Different World had Hillman, Fresh Prince had Bel Air, and The Cosby Show had a warm home with an unknowingly problematic patriarch. All memorable settings for a story (all the shows on this list have this). Abbot Elementary has the titular school, and it immediately provides a comfy and surprisingly familiar location and a strong sense of place. Brunson recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel and revealed that the “Abbott” in Abbott Elementary is in honor of her 6th-grade teacher. I kinda want to be a teacher now… but with good pay.

Available on Hulu

2. South Side

Taking place on the south side of Chicago, this show follows Simon and Kareme who recently graduated from community college and are ready to start life-changing careers. Unfortunately, they end up stuck at a dead-end job with RTO, a knockoff Rent-A-Center. I can’t even lie, this show had me hollering every single episode. Simon and Kareme are always cooking up some ridiculous scheme in order to hustle upward. From selling mild-flavored meatballs to selling a wave gel that accidentally attracts bats at night. The jokes come a mile a minute with very little room to breathe. Some of my favorite comedies exist just to be purely funny, this is one of them. Written and created by Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, the show is filmed on location in Englewood, Chicago, and boasts phenomenal supporting casts that bring their A-game to every scene they are in. When one character, that hails from the civil rights era, yells, “f*ck Corretta Scott King” (context is key here, so you should watch this show) I absolutely lost it. That’s just a drop of the chaotic and hilarious energy this show has on full display, all while being a love letter to Chicago.

Available on HBO Max

3. Woke

Keef Knight is a Black cartoonist on the verge of making it big. He prides himself on being light and avoiding controversial issues in his comic strips, but when he’s racially profiled he starts to see things differently. A bit more “woke” I might say (sorry). You may think that this is another thing rooted in Black trauma but Woke uses the situation we all know too well to propel its story into the interesting, funny, and daring territory. Examining how being “woke” can change your outlook but also your relationships and even career moves. There are animated and surreal elements that I won’t spoil here that color more humor into the show. Lamorne Morris, from New Girl, leads a stellar cast that brings memorable characters to life that embody the conflicting and messy conversations we have about race. With excellent cinematography, writing, performances, and the perfect amount of outrageousness this show flew under the radar but definitely is worth a shot for a sit-down and watch. The show takes place in San Francisco, and the show uses its location and sense of place incredibly well. Also, Clovis, played by T. Murphy, steals every scene that he’s in. He’s also short, sorry ladies.

Available on Hulu

History in The Making

Racial history is apparently evolving, starting with Texas.

Last month the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 3 which would remove educational requirements on racial equity in K-12 education. It seems that as America is uncovering more of its history a simultaneous embrace and rejection of that history is happening.

Some of our collective American history, including often untold African American history, is great to remember. For example, musician Questlove directed the recently released documentary “Summer of Soul” to tell the story of the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969, a little-known event featuring seminal acts such as the Isley Brother, Stevie Wonder, and Gladys Knight. This documentary brought this history to light and gave black history another chapter that has been overlooked.

Conversely, the Amber Ruffin Show recently covered another sad chapter in American history. She traced the story of Black towns forcibly made vacant. These prosperous towns such as Oscarville, Georgia, and Kowaliga, Alabama provided opportunities for wealth. They carried with them the potential for enduring black legacies. Yet, with inhabitants forcibly removed, the towns were quickly filled with water, creating lakes where black folk previously thrived.

Those towns and their stories are hidden away, or largely forgotten. This is the kind of history that America is not eager to remember.

Critical Race Theory Absent

Now the push to suppress history is happening in Texas. ABC News reports that the law would prevent educators from teaching that “’ one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex’ or should ‘feel discomfort, guilt, [or] anguish’ about privilege or systemic racism.” Conservatives target “critical race theory” charging that it is an educational concept that will poison young minds in the classroom. They take issue with the meaning of the concept, and how it is implemented.
“You generally don’t find CRT taught in K-12 education,” however, said Abel Bartley, PhD., a professor of African American and Urban History at Clemson University. “There are aspects of it being taught without it being called by name.”

Senate Bill 3 would remove the teachings of the history of white supremacy, women’s suffrage, and even the civil rights movement. Texas Governor Gregg Abott has signed HB3979 which says that teachers are banned from linking racism to the “…founding principles of the United States.”

As we look on the fight over history, it’s important to note, this is not the first time historical fact faces challenge in our educational systems.

“The South ran a big dual school system in the early 1900s in order to suppress the education of Blacks” says Bartley. Segregation of the school systems was the biggest method used just a few generations ago. Now we are seeing a different kind of separation today, the separation of particular chapters in this country’s history, while we need to be seeing the whole picture.

Racism Redacted

From a practical standpoint, the Texas law whitewashes the defining impact of American racism on its people. This system of redaction reaches into fundamental truths of history and removes the moral flaws with respect to racism from view and analysis.

“The idea that the United States has not always been a land of opportunity, and the dream detailed by America’s forefathers that purposefully left black and brown folk out of that dream,” if taught at all, would now be off the books, said Bartley. “I also believe that the elevation of Black heroes throughout history, and the idea of integration being a threat to those in power will be targeted.”

“It is problematic because students will not have the opportunity to get a proper accounting of history, period, not just Black history,” said Sydney Freeman, Ph.D., professor at the University of Idaho College of Education, Health and Human Services. “There has been a big reawakening for white America due to the blatant injustices seen by all. [Now, though] there has been a general push against this history being told.”

To Tell the Truth

As we uncover more of our history—some terrible and some edifying—there are significant efforts to undo the enlightenment that has already been accomplished. However, what can those that want to continue telling the full history do? Freeman believes that teaching history despite these efforts is the best way forward.

“I am hoping that we develop supplemental curricula that tell the real story. My team is working on pre-colonial teaching of black history. We need to strengthen our black institutions and educational organizations. We have to teach our black children about their history.”

Originally published for Message Magazine’s November/December issue.

A Brief History of "Woke" and Why We Should Reclaim It

Lead Belly, a legendary African American folk singer of the early 1900s, used a phrase at the end of his 1938 song, Scottsboro Boys. The song recounts the story of nine black teenagers being accused of a heinous crime against two white women, which led to seminal legal cases that dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial. He said, “I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there—best stay woke, keep their eyes open.” This is one of the earliest appearances of the word “woke” being used in this way. However, it’s meaning has changed over time and how it currently relates to the Black community. So, what does “being woke” mean and why does how we use this term matter? We have talked a bit about the word’s origin, but now let’s look into its modern resurgence.

In the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and the movement and protests that followed, the term woke experienced a modern resurgence. The Black Lives Matter movement widely used the term in order to succinctly communicate the need to be aware of the dangers Black folk face regularly. The term was used once again widely by BLM just two years later after the shooting of Michael Brown, to make folks privy to the injustice caused by police brutality and abuse of power inflicted on the Black community. 

I was in California with friends for a gathering in 2017. Saturday night was approaching, and we all knew what was on the itinerary. A new horror film by comedic actor turned writer/director Jordan Peele had arrived in theaters and the buzz for it seemed to be through the roof. In the opening scenes of this seminal film, Get Out, a song by Childish Gambino plays which was a cultural touchstone in its own right. The lyrics in Redbone that caught my ear were “now stay woke…” and the lyrics that followed painted scenes of needing to be aware of the dangerous forces that mean to descend upon the listener. The story in the film took this idea quite literally. I won’t get into plot details, but the main character survives the danger he encounters by being aware of or “woke” to the threats he faces as a Black man. This term has clearly endured throughout modern culture because of the effectiveness in which it communicated a simple truth: Black folk must be vigilant to the threats we face.

However, by 2018 the meaning of “woke” began to change and criticism began to arise. It had been weaponized and redefined in order to criticize the very people that used the term’s original meaning. This new definition of “woke” is used to identify people that see themselves as elite because they are socially aware. They are pretentious and only care about performative activism, being “woke” simply by name not action. These woke elites then shame and oppress those that do not see the world and its injustices as they do and may even “cancel” them in the process. Thus, making those that are not woke, or term’s detractors, the victims. Rejecting the concept of wokeness was brushed aside by its critics in favor of criticizing a version of the term that they themselves invented.

            In the summer of 2020, after the murder of George Floyd and in the weeks that followed the term become widely used again and so did it’s weaponized definition. The criticism increased in its complexity and intentionality. Some critics, such as James Carville a long-term political strategist, have said that the term “woke” and those associated with it exist in a world of vernacular that is just too foreign and unrelatable. They are simply used more as buzzwords and signifiers of literally how woke someone is if they use said terms. Pushing back against the idea of being “woke” has also become a new strategy to combat progressive ideas. The supposed vagueness of what “woke” actually means, in particular, is essential to this. The mention of defunding the police can quickly be brushed aside and ultimately making the conversation moot by saying that this idea and potential policy is too “woke” and simply just goes too far. One could essentially call what they don’t agree with too “woke”. 

Clearly, this discussion could become tirelessly circular, but that’s the point. Getting stuck on the details takes time away from the actual work. We need to reclaim woke because it has such an extensive history in black culture. So much of the Black experience is not just about protecting what our community has created but also reclaiming the words and culture we have produced. Being woke or staying woke is to remain vigilant in the pursuit of justice and be ever aware and resistant to the forces bent on silencing black joy and liberation. Much like being anti-racist, I believe staying woke is an active pursuit, not simply a badge we proudly wear to show how progressive we are. It’s a phrase that Black folk can hear and be instantly clued in on the challenges that our community faces. It holds real power, and history.        

The advice that Lead Belly gave at the end of his song back in 1938 lives on decades later and we have to continue its purpose. May we be good stewards of these terms, these pieces of history that are a part of our collective experience.

Look for The Helpers

In the summer of 2005, I was on my grandma’s couch with my brother Giovanni, and my cousin’s Jazmine and Adrian. I remember the general details of the apartment. A small kitchen right next to a heavy door with an old keyhole, and an embroidered mat for her living room table. Grandma Hazel had a small analog television with the most unreliable antenna. With that TV set, we would all tune in every afternoon to Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood. Unbeknownst to us, the show began and ended years ago. From February 19, 1968, to August 31, 2001, the show originally aired and helped bring kindness into the world. Of course, we were watching reruns on PBS, and the show felt ever-present to us. Because it always seemed like kindness was in short supply.

For me and possibly many of us, the honest next step would be to look outward on the lack of kindness. But I often think that we don’t mourn the loss of our own kindness enough. It’s not all gone, of course, but the moments when we forget to be a helping hand and empathetic do come. My previous entry told the story of taking the risk and leaving my job. In the beginning, sometimes even to this day, I left and feel incredibly stressed. Not having money coming in through employment is hard, and that sense of security is gone. Scarcity is what a felt when I thought that I didn’t have the experience to get the jobs that I wanted or the gas money to even go grocery shopping. I wasn’t strapped for cash because of savings, but I didn’t want to spend money either; I was too afraid. Truthfully, that scarcity led to cruelty. Whether it was not being as loving as I ought to be with my girlfriend and being pretty self-centered at times, or refusing to take my brother to work when he really needed my help and support, I felt that my kindness left me then. It did or die for me, in getting a job, and I needed to focus fully on myself. I didn’t have time to care for anyone else.

Cruelty is bred from scarcity. The feeling of not having enough can make us selfish. What is ours being threatened can cause us to only tend to our inner needs? I didn’t feel like myself when I came back home after leaving work at Andrews University. My kindness was replaced by a selfish heart. That heart mourned when I watch the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” that details the life of Mr. Rogers and his important work. I wept because of how far I felt I had fallen in being someone that was helpful and kind. It didn’t start with my big risk, but that was the tipping point.

What was so keenly Mr. Rogers was his ability to take real and scary issues and help kids cope and understand. Helping them to not lose their kindness out of fear or scarcity and confront the darkness in real ways. He guided children through the Kennedy assassination and helped the country cope with 9/11. I can’t help but wonder what he would say in response to the two mass shootings that took place over this weekend. The response Mr. Rogers would always give in the face of tragedy is, “…If you look for the helpers, you know that there’s hope.” Are we being the helpers that children can look to, or does the help that could possibly solve the problem threaten us?

Issues of gun violence are complex, and I can’t help but think that the relationship some of us have with our guns is complex too. I understand that completely. A firearm can have immeasurable value for a family and an individual. Possibly an heirloom passed through the family, or an honest means of protection for loved ones. But is this relationship making us less kind? Possibly more concerned with our desires, rather than being a helper that our country desperately needs? Constantly asking ourselves, what am I doing to help in this moment of suffering, and is selfishness getting in the way of that. Is true empathy being displayed from my heart? Am I being a helper?

Honestly, I don’t know what exact steps we should take to make our society safer but I hope we can come together and try to figure it out. I can imagine God hoping that we can pull from the collective good in us and try to help. Not doing anything just doesn’t seem like something a helper would do. So, I would recommend two salves for our hearts in this cruel and beautiful world. Mourn our personal failures of not being kind, and start being a helper today.

The Privilege of Risk

“Maybe, I’ll just be a stay at home boyfriend,” I thought, as I stretched on Imani’s couch. She already left for work, and it left me slightly self-conscious. Well, she is a whole attorney, so my jobless male ego easily took a hit. But that was okay because I could sweep before she came home from work.

A little under a month ago I was back at Andrews on a consistent loop of waking up, getting ready for work, going to work, and then going home and eating dinner. An episode of a favorite TV show usually made an appearance in that loop too. It was comfy, it was nice, and I felt like an adult. But I had to leave, with or without a job (I took option 2). Don’t get me wrong, I am a big planner, I love being prepared and considering everything that could go wrong. I tried to avoid such a huge risk as much as I could but everything around me kept pointing to the decision to throw my life in a blender.

Anyway, I was spending the week out in Maryland in order to search for employment in person. I was hoping to move to the DMV because for years, I have felt an incredibly strong urge to live and work there. It doesn’t hurt that they have Bird, the scooter rental service, all over the city to use (You should try that, it’s amazing. I burned so many calories). I wanted a change, and really be satisfied in my career. I never really understood the privilege of being able to do that, until now.

In March of 2012, I walked into a classroom that was farthest west in Gates-Chili High school. The teenage awkwardness coupled with the reality that this was only my second year here, contributed to general sense discomfort. However, in this psychology class, I was able to watch Sybil (interesting inspiration) and decide that I wanted to pursue that field in college, and eventually become a clinical psychologist. Honestly, I was afraid to choose anything remotely creative. Photography and journalism were where I was really leaning. “I wouldn’t make any money doing those things”, is what I thought. By going for the safest bet, and the one that would possibly relieve my parents the most, I just put off what I would eventually be experiencing in 2019. Trying to do what I love. Of course, the process is harder now because of bills and not being in school anymore. A degree goes a long way. But I think this process was inevitable, and it can be terrifying.

Almost a week after I had left Maryland, I was driving my dad back to the family house in Rochester from a tire shop just up the street. Mom’s van needed to get new tires, and my dad likes getting things done sooner than a later. So, we did this early. Past 6:30 am but not late enough to feel bad for not taking a shower yet. A knot inside my chest was under threat of taking over the steering duty from my hands and careening us off the road. Clearly, I needed some perspective, so I asked my father if he’s been in a similar situation.

In May 1988, Eric and Merna Smart were married in Jamaica. Not too long after, the newly deemed Mrs. Smart immigrated to Rochester, NY by way of her father. There are two big truths about Eric, he loved Merna and he loved electricity. He had to stay behind on the island and wait for his green card, so he worked as an electrician. It was his dream field, with varying amounts of voltage. He became a trusted servant to wires, switches, and modern energy, all while being his own boss. You’d think that he would jump to the most stable job possible, after getting the knot tied. But not him, from the ground up, he built his own clientele. Working from house to house, with no guarantee that work will be there tomorrow. When he finally reunited with Merna in America, he worked at a temp agency for 12 months before he got a job at Corbett-Steeves. That’s two years of potent uncertainty, all while being newly married. But he got where he needed to be while staying committed to what he loved to do. Despite having to take a hiatus from his passion, and not knowing what laid ahead, he persisted.

Fortunately, my hands retained control of the driving situation that morning. My father was 25 when all of that happened and it seems my time has also come to experience a certain kind of uncertainty too. That’s the interesting thing about uncertainty, it’s a space we try to escape from as soon as possible but maybe the key is learning to live there. Without that, can we really take the necessary risks, and live a life that we’re proud of? Maybe my parents didn’t take as many risks in life, so I could have the opportunity to. That’s the privilege, that I didn’t realize in high school. I hope to fully realize it now. Anyone hiring?

To Westeros and Back

Collectively, as a culture, we are at the end of the road with Game of Thrones. (Westworld and Watchmen anyone? Maybe even His Dark Materials? ) Frankly, this final season functioned as an example of what the show does best. Before I go on, of course, there are spoilers are ahead.

The achievement in gaining the throne requires a massive amount of violence. On a consistent basis, this television program has shown this to be true. Violence is often used to carve out a path for peace, but a palpable irony has always been coupled with this historical action. Violence as a means for peace, somehow begetting more peace. It hasn’t work in our world, why would it work in Westeros?

Remember when Dany killed the slave masters and properly freed The Unsullied in Meereen? (Meereen is a location a sea away from Westeros) We cheered for her because she was the protagonist. This act of violence was seen as liberation and a victory for those that have been trampled on, but it is violence nonetheless. Further, into the story, Dany begins to carve her path to Cersei, and we see a critical point made when she encounters Randyll and Dikon of House Tarly, who refuse to bend the knee. She gives them two options: go to Castle Black or pledge their allegiance. They refuse both because she is not their queen. So she ends up executing them.

If peace is to be accomplished another method has to be used. The old ways must die. Additionally, this scene goes to great lengths in showing the fear of all soldiers at Dany’s mercy, and Tyrion’s desperate desire to inject mercy into her conquest. Dany’s decision of using violence to complete her objectives is in line with her actions in “The Bells”. She bent the knee to the same violence and cruelty that has destroyed every other ruler that has sat on the iron throne. She and her greatest enemy used violence to gain and/or retain power. The only difference is, is that Dany is our protagonist, so the pill is easier to swallow

This entire season seemed to be dedicated to the rejection of violence and forced us to look at how we consumed the violence that the show has displayed. Did we cheer, to we recoil in disgust? Was Dany’s conquest “good”? Is another “winner of the throne” the way to end the cycle? The “Long Night” and the “The Bells” forced us to wrestle with these questions as we watched two battles being played out like horror films. (Ayra had two great solo sequences). I do believe that the best final seasons and finales allow for the entire series to be evaluated under a different lens, and this lens questions the game of thrones itself.

In the end, Jon kills Dany (in his own act of violence at that), by stabbing her mid-kiss. Imagine having a Tinder date ended in a similar fashion. After sacking King’s Landing with dragon fire, she was ready to continue her streak of conquest through the entire planet. Jon, after Tyrion’s persuasion, saw no other way. In order to break the wheel that the game of thrones has created, the last conqueror needed to be removed, and a new way to find peace had to spring forth.

Many plot threads were left unresolved but I honestly don’t see it as a knock against this season. In the end, they didn’t matter. Arya’s prophecy speaking of three pairs of eyes she will shut forever, who the Lord of Light actually is (I think that’s just me), and the fate of very specific characters. Even Jon being a Targaryen really didn’t amount to much. Bran becomes the ruler because he was the best-elected choice, not because of his name. Your ability to lead was what mattered, not who you are. I think the subversion serviced the story in an incredibly meaningful way. Weeding out what we would stereotypically see as expected for a finale and focus on showing how a better Westeros came to pass, through methods never used before.

Whatever your expectations, they should not get in the way of storytellers finishing a narrative that they put to screen. None of us “own” Game of Thrones. We’re simply consuming content, just like with any other show. What we want can easily blind us with what we can learn to appreciate and understand. And at the same time, I empathize with the critics. We have all been following these characters for years.

When it comes to a finale, we expect big throes of heroics, our favorite characters getting their happy ending, and maybe a favorite theory of ours being true. But this finale really parsed down to the idea of this being a story of Westeros. Not just our favorite characters. A story about how the old ways of the reigning were due to meet their end, showing mercy in a world where only two options seem clear, and peace coming in quietly.

Too Old for Irony, Too Green for Sincerity

To be completely honest, I’m writing from personal conjecture. At this point, I’m pretty certain about two things in my life. That stories are just great, and life comes in arcs. Several years ago, I rejected that idea because I found trying to be the hero of your own story a bit too dangerous. I was watching too many superhero movies. But alas, I think it’s true, and I’m quite comfortable with the idea of finally resolving questions I have been working through. Well of course, nothing is ever really gone. However, is it too much to ask for some finality?

In college, like we all have, I questioned where my life was going, what I believed in, and what that also meant for the people that were around me. I never told my parents that I was questioning my belief when I was. It just seemed more fun to tell them that I left my faith, while we would be opening Christmas presents. Of course, that didn’t happen, but imagine if it did! That would have been hysterical, in a tragic holiday kind of way.

I hope that joke was worth the tangent. Modern Vampires of the City (MVTC) is what I was spinning at this time. The album was released in 2013, and I was rethinking everything in 2015, so a little late. It talks about religion, unbelieving (Unbelievers), Judaism and Islam’s relationship (Finger Back), asking God those tough questions (Ya Hey) struggling to get up and look for a job (Obvious Bicycles), and dying young (Diane Young) [there’s a lot of death imagery]. Even the album cover, which is in black and white, is a picture of 1966 NYC fog. It’s a quarter-life crisis masterpiece. The band is Vampire Weekend, although you may have googled them already. I meant to write in their name at the end of this paragraph!

There is nothing like piece of music meeting you where you are at. I’m in crisis, can Siri play something that can set the mood? I could go on, but I think you get my point. Their previous albums, Contra (deals with angst of young adult life and the travels that they may inhabit) and the self-titled Vampire Weekend (exhibits the collegiate experience with wit and surprising profoundness) . I pretty much listened to each one in order, and got to experience the answer of the questions that they all helped to answer. This trilogy tracked a fictional life, that’s when it really clicked for me. This is a play-by-play to a millennial life. A commentary to a life filled with a bevy of steaming options and a mountain of fans whining about the latest Game of Thrones episode. (I’m kidding, come back!)

So now we enter in the year of our Lord, 2019. Vampire Weekend has released a new album. It was a long wait, and I already graduated from college. I wish they made an album about being offered a radio job in Boise, Idaho (potatoes). Thankfully, their new album, Father of the Bride, is about much more than that. I starts off with a wedding in Hold You Now. The bride and the groom are negotiating if they should stay together. They assure each other by saying “I can’t carry you forever, but I can hold you now”. The awareness of what life and time is, is what I had come to accept just a few months prior. Things don’t last forever, but so what? Right now, I can make due with whats in my hands.

I believe that, that awareness comes with age and the stage of life we are in. A lot of the album rejects the wit and irony that their previous albums documented when trying to figure out who you are. Now, questions have been answered, and the old arc is done. Now, like in Father of the Bride, it is time to contend with contentment and a settled life. Maybe a long-term union, and throw a kid in there, just to see what happens. Am I exactly at that stage now? No, I am not pregnant, I’ve just put on a few pounds. But with that extra weight, those salad days are now over. Honestly, I don’t mind thinking about more of what that stage will bring. It seems that I am in the starting stages of this new arc. It’s time to answer those bigger questions that have more do it with how to connect with others. So much has been answered in fact, that now, all that is left is sincerity. And a little room to celebrate that.