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Grown-ish, the spinoff of Black-ish, stars teenage actress and activist Yara Shahidi.
Photo courtesy of ABC
Grown-ish is a realistic depiction of undergraduate life: the constant struggle between “being grown,” balancing priorities, and discovering your identity.
1. This show gives great insight into young black millennials
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: representation matters. Young black millennials matter too, and there are a lot of us poppin‘ in today’s society. The leading star Zoey, played by Shahidi, represents just that. As we get a close up look into Zoey’s first year of college, we view her exposure to relationships, dating, and even drugs. One of the things I love most is the way Grown-ish dissects dating through misreading the signs of Aaron’s interest, hookup culture and over-analyzing text messages. (We’ve all been there before”>.
2. Zoey is three-dimensional
Zoey is herself, simple but beautiful. She is complex, smart and witty. She struggles between balancing classes, partying, and growing up while being introduced and influenced by her peers to use gateway drugs. She struggles to trust herself when she feels the pressures of priorities. That first taste of freedom for a young millennial can go wrong really quickly, and already in the second episode, Zoey voices, “the trick is balancing it out.” Even through the growing pains, Zoey is resilient — she is identifying and figuring it all out, step by step.
3. Here for the natural hair representation
It’s mind-boggling that some people still don’t realize how versatile natural hair is, but the reality is that most people just won’t get it until they see it. I vicariously live through Zoey’s twist-outs and protective styles. Her hair looks bomb in every episode. My personal fave is the jumbo ponytail braid with the gold hair accessories; kudos for showing that natural hair comes in many looks!
3. What a great way to highlight young Black Women
We see Zoey standing and shining on her own. She is not in the shadow of the male gaze. MAJOR KEY. USA Today said it best “Grown-ish is aimed at young women, and focuses on issues that affect them without irony or judgment.” I am really here for this. There are a lot of issues that women face, societal and behavioral pressures, unrealistic expectations, do I need to say more?
We are constantly under scrutiny, and even pinned to scrutinize each other. It’s a beautiful thing when we just get to be all that we are, judgment-free.
I have to thank the creators of Grown-ish, Kenya Barris and Larry Wilmore, for taking me back down memory lane and depicting to the world what it’s like to be a young Black woman. Because it’s lit.
Personally, I binge-watched all four episodes of “Grown-ish” in one sitting because it’s that good! I could go on and on, but I really want to know your thoughts.
Have you watched “Grown-ish” yet?
If I took a poll of the most controversial ads of 2017, I am certain SheaMoisture & Dove would be among the top picks.
After taking some time to silently assess these controversial ads, do I really think the ads are racist?
Hear me out, I know it is easy to troll and cancel brands but at some point the issues have to be addressed. “Racist” is a strong term and one I don’t feel comfortable using lightly. I would hate to label a brand as racist for missing the mark. There is no doubt there are relevant areas of concern that need to be addressed.
Before you drag me, hear me out.
Let’s start with SheaMoisture’s product commercial released in April 2017 that was eventually pulled. The ad featured messages about hair hate, and ending with a message about embracing your hair. Admittedly, I totally missed this the first time around. The ad featured three white women and one woman of color, and I believe all races face hate bias, so that part I got. However, women of color consistently face hair hate that has been widely ignored. They face an array of judgment from society including workplace discrimination, and let’s not forget limited media representation. Really the list goes on, so I can see how this ad was viewed as controversial. Many people critiqued SheaMoisture for minimizing the struggles of WOC.
In response, SheaMoisture pulled the ad and posted to their Facebook.
“Wow, okay – so guys, listen, we really f-ed this one up,” the team stated; see full apology here. I think the brand messed up by drawing the conclusion that white women face hair shame as much as women of color.
I mean we all know that’s just not true.
To be fair, SheaMoisture is not the only company that went viral for beauty ads released this year. I mean, we can’t forget about Dove.
I will admit, I slept on that Dove campaign.
By the time I had seen the news, the controversial ad was already pulled and the company had apologized. I was hesitant to even look it up because I feel Dove has a history of toeing the line. They have had many ads that have been deemed controversial, and at this point I expected their team would have stopped these types of ads from hitting the market.
The internet couldn’t wait to drag Dove, I (lowkey”> commend Dove for responding. Because at the point, it seems like the damage was already done. So let’s get into the beauty ad controversy. The beauty ad featured three different women of different races taking off their shirts to reveal another woman. See some of the ad here. It seems most people couldn’t get past an African American woman essentially turning into a White woman. Rightfully so. I think the ad felt more confused than anything. I couldn’t help thinking, “what does this have to do with Dove body wash though?”
Dove released a statement to Twitter, stating “The short video was intended to convey that Dove body wash is for every woman and be a celebration of diversity, but we got it wrong.”
The real question: how many times can a brand get it wrong?
And how to we start the conversation?
Are we canceling brands prematurely? Am I trippin’?
Let’s discuss how you really feel.
photo courtesy of AP Images
Can we take a moment to celebrate the natural hair representation on a major TV network like NBC? There are many topics regarding the NBC drama series ‘This Is Us’ that we could dive into, but I’d like to take a moment to focus on the character Beth Pearson, played by Susan Kelechi Watson. Watson plays the wife to one of the triplets, Randall Pearson. While the trio and their parents are arguably the main characters of the show, Beth manages to steal the scenes and our hearts in every episode. Here are just a few reasons why her character is so important.
Beth could easily be any one of us
Women are constantly told how to act, behave, think and even how to wear our hair. Many of things we are told to be are not realistic. What I love about Beth’s character is that she is authentic in an industry in which so few female characters are.
Beth represents many women today
She wears many hats, as a wife and mother while still maintaining her sense of self. It is a balance that can be challenging. It is important to see a present day woman in a realistic and fulfilling way. Plenty have proclaimed Beth and Randall as #relationshipgoals. I mean who can forget when Randall stated, “and don’t get it twisted. I wake up every morning next to a head scarf and coconut oil — I’m married to a black queen!”
So let’s get to it. Why does it really matter that Beth rocks her natural hair?
Beth has rocked a number of natural styles, from box braids to the pineapple method, to a ponytail. The afro may be my personal favorite. Susan Kelechi Watson makes a bold statement that she is not afraid to switch it up. It’s easy for people to think that natural hair is limiting, but there’s so much versatility with natural hair. We need to see that natural hair comes in many different forms, and that’s okay!
She truly embraces her natural hair.
Beth is motivation and she sends a clear message that that natural hair is beautiful. Something that I need to be reminded of from time to time. I have done a big chop twice in two years and there were many times I struggled to accept that natural hair is very much trial and error. Once I got rid of the idea that my hair was supposed to be perfect, I embraced that my hair is beautiful just the way it grows from my head.
In a society that constantly represents unrealistic and un-obtainable views of beauty, it is nice to see the natural hair wave reach the major network television. I can look at a series like This Is Us and see that I am represented.
There is nothing wrong with my hair. In fact, it is beautiful.
Do you watch ‘This Is Us’? What do you think of Beth’s character.
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