I am always pro representation. To end my Black History Month trilogy, I want to highlight some TV shows and movies with strong black representation.
I want to specify that this list is limited to movies and TV shows I have actually seen as I would not recommend something that I wouldn’t watch myself.
With this list, I also aim to avoid trauma porn. Black people as a whole have been through so much with slavery, Jim Crow Laws, segregation, and institutionalized racism that when Black history month comes around, it is all we focus on. There is an entire genre of media dedicated to showing trauma in black history. This type of media can remind us of atrocities suffered and hopefully prevent such things from happening again. However, this form of media is not what I would like to highlight because they are not the only black stories worth telling. It can be easy to forget to praise the artist and people in media working to highlight and represent black stories authentically.
With that said, I want to acknowledge that there are plenty more movies and TV shows with black representation that should be highlighted that I have not seen. I’m always looking for new things to watch, so leave a comment below if you have any recommendations.
In no particular order, here are some great TV shows and movies with excellent black representation.
TV Shows
1. Black-ish
2. Grown-ish
3. The Proud Family
4. Family Matters
5. Dear White People (TV Show)
6. Black Lightning
7. Sister Sister
8. Girlfriends
9. One on One
10. That’s So Raven
11. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
12. The Bernie Mac Show
13. Everybody Hates Chris
14. Martin
15. My Wife and Kids
Movies
1. Dear White People (Movie)
2. Black Panther
3. Love Don’t Cost A Thing
4. Coming to America
5. Coming 2 America
6. Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
7. Malcolm & Marie
8. Jingle Jangle
9. Soul
10. Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
11. The Princess and The Frog
12. Dream Girls
13. Roxanne Roxanne
14. Dope
15. Girl’s Trip