liberation

howtobenoladarling:

theblacksophisticate:

howtobenoladarling:

ritaschild17:

I personally believe that THE COSBY show was great for its time and gives a great goal for many middle class African Americans today, however it does not give a good clear view of how to attain this level of achievement and “success” that they had.  I would have to say that due to so many different negative media influences post-THE COSBY show, the image of African Americans has clearly spiked down by a huge margin.  I hope that one day there will be a show that comes back on TV that can inspire the black community to do better and be as subtly great as THE COSBY show.

alysonsmediadiet:

I watched the Cosby Show: A Look Back documentary. Here is what intrigued me the most: The Cosby Show never had to literally say “we are black and we are proud” but through the effective use of subtlety that mantra gave life to every show and changed how America, and I dare to say the world, thought about African Americans. (see clip for example)

We didn’t have to wave banners, beat drums, sing songs, make great speeches about who we were. It was obvious. it was obvious in the art that hung on the walls, it was obvious in the music that we listened to, the music that the children listened to, in our personalized story of historic events. And in presenting ourselves in this way, we were able to give people in this country and the world a broader perspective of what American Culture really is: diverse. -Phylicia Rashad

Through the Cosby Show, it became clear that African Americans were really no different than other races. As Oprah puts it The Cosby Show “let the world know that black folks are just like everybody else, we think, we feel, we laugh, we hurt, and it was funny.“ 

The Cosby show holds the record as the number one show on television for 5 consecutive seasons. Executive Producer Caryn Mandabach said that “Bill Cosby changed the culture of television for ever.” 

Now here are my questions:

Do you think that The Cosby Show accurately reflects African American culture?

“In delivering this truth [that African Americans were like everyone else] to the audience, it really opened doors to understanding and introduced cultural realism to prime time television.” -Phylicia Rashad  Agree or Disagree?

   This is why i hate it! in the 80’s Crack Cocaine was ravaging our communities. Why does a tv show have the responsibility of humanizing black people when 400 years of serving whit people tirelessly didnt? its the biggest slap in the face to say that the cosby show shows us what black families could be like. My family doesnt have a college legacy or degreed professionals working from their homes. That may be a reality for some but that was not my experience in the least bit. All this show did was provide white people with an image of themselves in blackface.

The Burden of Representation.

To that, I say, “fuck it!”

I’m tired of this idea that anything with Black folks in it, HAS to speak for the entire gamut of Blackness.

“The Huxtables” were one professional Black family. They do not speak for ALL of Black America. They speak for themselves. This debate is tiresome. Sure there were folks living in “the hood” and smoking crack, but there were also families, such as “The Huxtable’s”, doing things a different way.

And to address this quote from my brotha: “All this show did was provide white people with an image of themselves in blackface.

That’s all the show did? Really? I beg to differ. But, to each his or her own.

Working within the system to break the system…a show about black people passing and making white people feel good about stealing us from africa because years later we would be doctors and lawyers, with a strong blackman in the house raising his children and being funny and selling yogurt…meh…i get it one black family but the very point of this post was that this show made white america view black america better..no one said professional black america because lets face it they were already preferred and championed if they were light enough..paper bag test anyone? 

the majority of black people did not live a brownstone in brooklyn…its great to imagine they did or imagine that they could..but the reality is most black people could never have access to that kind of life…only a few could..only a few do…so why would that be success for a show that claims of itself to be doing positive work for the black community. why do some black people get ahead while others fall behind, and yet we still call that success? 

this elitism and adoption of white middle class bourgeois ideas about race, class, and patriarchy is why i called this show white america in blackface..one painting of black people going to church was the symbol of african heritage ha! dont even get me started on Christianity and black america. i liked the cosby show and good times and the Jefferson..but none of them showed be touted as doing something positive for black america…they are fictional shows about fictional black people.

this is how i feel about most shows on television. especially shit by tyler perry.

(via bad-dominicana)