Day 25 of 100 Days of Blogging: Black Sitcoms & the Black Imaginary

Lately I’ve been finding comfort in indulging my nostalgia, streaming many of the Black sitcoms from my childhood like Sister Sister, Smart Guy, Moesha, Girlfriends, etc.

I think streaming services are intentionally marketing to Black millennials like me, highly susceptible to nostalgia marketing, and I’m entirely here for it, but I was reflecting on why beyond the comforting nature of nostalgia, these shows are so soothing to me of late.

I think rewatching these shows is reminding me of worlds with a Black characters doing regular things. Sometimes its easy to forget our own humanity when we’re plagued by the emotional and mental weight of perpetual injustice. Black sitcoms allow my mind to live in a world where Black people have typical human character challenges that aren’t centered on poverty pathologies and violence.

Re-watching these shows helps me imagine the mounting Black NeoRenaissance that feels like is burgeoning. It intuitively feels like we are incubating a surge in Black creative energy and innovation.While there are several contemporary dramas center Black characters, the sitcom era for Black television series is seemingly on hiatus (outside of Tyler Perry…) and I wonder how this absence is shaping the impact of our ability to vision and dream. T.V. is NOT the only pathway towards building Black Imaginary but its undeniable the amount of streaming content most of us have resorted to as a coping mechanism and the more instances that assist us in visioning a world where Black people have drama not contingent upon poverty and racism, the closer those visions and dreams are to construct.

I want to make artistic content that guides us towards a strengthened Black Imaginary of joy, humor, and innovative possibilities, #WakandaForever! Also “Go Home ROGER!”