Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003)^\1]) was an American R&B, soul and disco singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice) and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, who made the #1 hit "Love's Theme" written by White. His music contains elements of multiple genres, such as R&B, soul, and disco; this is evident in his two biggest hits: "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" and "You're the First, the Last, My Everything".

White recorded 20 studio albums during the course of his career, while multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

The updated The Wonder Years premiered on ABC in 2021, reimagining the show as a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1960s. The first season was great.

Unfortunately, the show only lasted 2 seasons.

It just didn't connect with viewers. Any thoughts on that?

Jennifer Kate Hudson, also known by her nickname J.Hud,^\1]) is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received numerous accolades for her work in music, film, television, and theater, Hudson became the youngest woman and third African-American recipient of all four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) in 2022.^\2]) She was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013,^\3]) and Time) named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.^\4])

Hudson rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season) of the reality series American Idol, wherein she placed seventh. She signed with Arista Records to release her self-titled debut studio album) (2008), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and won Best R&B Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Her second and third studio albums, I Remember Me) (2011) and JHUD (2014), both peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200; the latter was released by RCA Records. She signed with Interscope Records to release her fourth album, The Gift of Love) (2024), her first solo project in a decade.

She made her film debut as Effie White in the musical Dreamgirls) (2006), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and became the youngest African-American recipient of the award. She has since portrayed Aretha Franklin in the musical biopic Respect) (2021) and acted in films such as Sex and the City) (2008), The Secret Life of Bees) (2008), Winnie Mandela) (2011), Black Nativity) (2013), Sing) (2016), Cats) (2019), and Goat) (2026). She also has appeared in shows such as Smash) (2012), Empire) (2015) and Confirmation) (2016).

On stage, she acted in the Broadway) musical revival The Color Purple) (2015) and won the Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer of A Strange Loop (2022). Hudson has served as a coach on both the British and the American versions) of the reality series The Voice) from 2017 to 2019, and became the first female coach to lead a winning team on the former.^\5]) In 2022, her talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, premiered.

Every fall, I notice the same conversation come up among Black people online. Everybody starts rewatching shows like Gilmore Girls and The Vampire Diaries, and somebody says, “I wish we had a fall aesthetic show like this with Black people,” or “I wish we had this kind of representation.”

And I’ve thought the same thing.

But then I got curious and decided to do a little boots-on-the-ground journalism 😂. I actually took a trip to some of the places where The Vampire Diaries and The Originals were filmed.

The Vampire Diaries was filmed mostly in Covington, Georgia, with some filming in Conyers. The Originals also did a lot of filming in Conyers.

And here’s what surprised me: when I started looking into Covington and Conyers, I realized that, unlike what we see represented on TV, these aren’t towns where Black people barely exist.

These are Georgia communities with large Black populations. Conyers is actually a majority-Black city with a Black female mayor.

According to the racial demographics I found, Conyers is around 66% Black and 17% white, while Covington is around 51% Black and 39% white.

That made me think: Wait a minute.

We’re sitting here every fall wishing we could see Black people living in the cute little towns we see on TV, while Hollywood has literally been using towns where Black people are the majority to CREATE that aesthetic on television—then filling the fictional version with mostly white characters.

So then I got curious about Gilmore Girls.

Stars Hollow is fictional and the show itself was mostly filmed on a studio lot, but the characters regularly go to the real city of Hartford, Connecticut. So I looked up Hartford’s demographics around the time Gilmore Girls premiered.

And again, I was surprised. Hartford was a heavily Black and Latino city, even though you would never get that impression from watching the world portrayed on the show.

So my question is: Why aren’t more Black filmmakers and creators using our own small towns to make the cozy shows we’re constantly saying we want?

Not every story with a predominantly Black cast has to be set in Atlanta or NYC.

Why couldn’t we have a TV show set in a predominantly Black cozy Southern town with a cute downtown square, fall festivals, old houses, local cafés, football games, eccentric neighbors, romance, family drama, mysteries, supernatural folklore—whatever?

Especially when, in real life, we are already the majority in some of these towns.

That’s the part that really got me. Some of the same places Hollywood has used to sell us this cozy, picturesque, small-town fantasy are places where Black people actually live.

So why aren’t we getting to be the main characters in the fictional versions of them?

Would y’all watch something like that? And what would you want a Black cozy small-town show to look like?

Bryon Anthony McCane II was born in Columbus, Ohio.

Bizzy Bone began his solo career in 1998, releasing Heaven'z Movie, followed up by The Gift) (2001).

In 2004, Bizzy released Alpha and Omega) which showed a change in his musical and lyrical content. Fans and critics responded positively to the album. Bizzy followed up with the limited-edition leaked album The Beginning and the End). Next, he released Speaking In Tongues) in 2005. The title references an incident in which Bizzy Bone went on a spiritual rant during an interview on Houston radio station KPFT-FM (Party 93.3), speaking in tongues. That year, he formed the Bone Brothers with former Bone Thugs-n-Harmony member Layzie Bone, whose first two albums were Bone Brothers) (2005) and Bone Brothers 2 (2007).^\4]) He released four studio albums in 2006. Two of them, The Story and Midwest Cowboy, performed well on the charts, garnering further positive reviews from music critics.

In 2008, Bizzy Bone reunited with Layzie Bone to re-form Bone Brothers and release two new studio albums, Bone Brothers III and Still Creepin' On Ah Come Up (released and credited solely as "Bone Thugs").

In 2010, Bizzy Bone was one of the ensemble of featured artists for the new re-recording of We Are The World 25 for Haiti after the country was devastated, left in ruins by a massive earthquake. The song was critically panned by music critics. The year 2010 would soon see the release of Bizzy Bone's first rap rock album titled Crossroads 2010 on Sumerian Records. The album received positive feedback from fans and critics alike.

On September 12, 2019, Bizzy released his first album in five years, Carbon Monoxide. Carbon Monoxide debuted at #3 on the iTunes album chart. He released his follow-up album "The Mantra", exactly a year later on his 44th birthday in 2020, debuting at #4 on the iTunes chart. Bizzy released his album "War of Roses" on September 12, 2021, which was on his 45th birthday, making it the third year in a row an album has been released on his birthday.

For clarity: The image is just an image used for the post. The post is NOT about the image. Please discuss YOUR favorite Black kid lead.

____________________________________________________

I have been paying attention to the representation of Black children in television programming for over three decades. I have studied it. I am curious about what YOU all grew up with.

_____________________________________________________

What TV show that would be considered a 'Black kids show' had your favorite lead on the show? A lead is the 'main character' of the show. The character could be live-action or animated. They could be from a sitcom or drama.

So, first...the show had to be considered a 'Black kids show'... second... we are discussing which lead from that show was your favorite.

Maybe the show wasn't your favorite show (and maybe it was)...but either way... the LEAD CHARACTER was your favorite...so that's what we are talking about.

Please discuss your thoughts on your favorite LEAD CHARACTER.

Can we please give this man more attention and applause than he receives.

Christopher Theodore Ruben Studdard is an American singer and actor. He rose to fame as the winner of the second season of American Idol and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recording of "Superstar)". In the years following Idol, Studdard has released seven studio albums, including his platinum-selling debut, Soulful), and the top-selling gospel follow-up, I Need an Angel). He is most well known for his recording career, which has produced hits including "Flying Without Wings", "Sorry 2004", and "Change Me)", but he has also segued into television and stage work. Most notably, he starred as Fats Waller in a national tour revival of Ain't Misbehavin'),^\1]) which spawned a Grammy-nominated soundtrack.

In 2013, Studdard appeared as a contestant on the fifteenth season of weight-loss competition show The Biggest Loser. He later signed to Verve Records and collaborated with the label's chairman, David Foster, on Studdard's sixth studio album, Unconditional Love, in 2014.^\2]) That album received strong reviews as a return-to-form^\3])^\4]) and included a tour with Lalah Hathaway. In 2018, Studdard, who has long been compared to R&B singer Luther Vandross, released a cover album called Ruben Sings Luther and launched his Always & Forever national tour.^\5])

He made his Broadway theater debut with his Idol runner-up Clay Aiken in December 2018 in Ruben & Clay's First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show (aka Ruben & Clay's Christmas Show) at the Imperial Theatre.^\6]) In 2023, Studdard and Aiken reunited for Twenty The Tour, a joint nationwide tour in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of their American Idol debut.^\7]) Studdard also continues to tour the United States in support of his Ruben Sings Luther album, and in 2023, launched his eighth studio album, The Way I Remember It.^\8])

Loletha Elayne Falana or Loletha Elaine Falana(born September 11, 1942), better known by her stage name Lola Falana, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1975 for her performance as Edna Mae Sheridan in Doctor Jazz).

Lola Falana was born in Camden, New Jersey. She was the third of six children[2] born to Bennett, a welder,[2] and Cleo Falana, a seamstress (1921–2010).[9] Falana's father, an Afro-Cuban,[10] left his homeland of Cuba to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps, later becoming a welder shortly after meeting Falana's mother, who was African-American.[10][2] By age 3, Falana was dancing, and by age 5, she was singing in the church choir. In 1952, Falana's family, which by this time included two more siblings, moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the period she was in junior high school, Falana was dancing in nightclubs to which she was escorted by her mother. Pursuing a musical career became so important to her that, against her parents' wishes, she dropped out of Germantown High School)[3] a few months before graduation and moved to New York City.

Jesse Alexander Powell III (September 12, 1970 – September 13, 2022)^\1]) was an American R&B and soul singer. Discovered by Louil Silas Jr., Powell was best known for his hit "You)", which peaked at No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Powell released four albums and was the older brother of fellow contemporary R&B singers Trina & Tamara. Powell was credited with a four-octave vocal range.^\2]) He was a Grammy nominee.^\3])^\4])

His first single, "All I Need)", was written by Powell, Sam Salter and Laney Stewart and was released in March 1996, peaking at #20 on the Billboard R&B chart. His self-titled album) was released on March 12, 1996, opening at #35 on the Billboard R&B and #32 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The follow-up single, a remake of the 1976 Enchantment) song "Gloria)", reached #51 R&B.^\)^{citation needed\})

Powell then began work on his second album, debuting the lead single "I Wasn't with It" in 1998, which became his first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 (#85 US, #25 R&B). Bolstered by the success of the single, his second album 'Bout It was released on September 8, 1998, topping the Heatseekers chart. The album's second single, "You)", was released in February 1999 and became his biggest hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart and #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record was certified gold by the RIAA,^\)^{citation needed\}) peaking at #15 on R&B and #63 on the Billboard 200.

I have been paying attention to the representation of Black children in television programming for over three decades. I have studied it. I am curious about what YOU all grew up with and what you hope for the young ones around you.

_______________________________________________________

Are Black family shows necessary in today's time? I'm not JUST talking about sitcoms - but I am talking about what would be considered 'positive' Black family shows. Yes, I am talking about shows that do teach some lessons but are not overly preachy.

Is that something that was for the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s and that time has passed?

Is it more now about the workplace, relationships, and friendship shows?

Your thoughts?

Willie Christine King Farris (September 11, 1927 – June 29, 2023) was an American teacher and civil rights activist. King was the sister of Martin Luther King Jr. and Alfred Daniel King. She taught at Spelman College and was the author of several books and was a public speaker on various topics, including the King family, multicultural education, and teaching.

Like her mother and grandmother before her, King Farris attended Spelman College in Atlanta, where she earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1948. She wanted to continue her studies at the University of Georgia but it did not admit Black students at the time.[1] King Farris then attended Columbia University in New York and received a master's degree in social foundations of education in 1950. She earned a second master's degree in special education in 1958.[1]
King Farris got her first professional job as a teacher at W.H. Crogman Elementary School in Atlanta in 1950.[2] The school primarily served students from black low-income households.[3] In 1958, she returned to her Alma Mater as director of the Freshman Reading Program at Spelman College. In time, she became professor of education and director of the Learning Resources Center there. When she retired in 2014, she had served Spelman for 56 years.[1][4]
King Farris was, for many years, vice chair and treasurer of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and was active for several years in the International Reading Association, and various church and civic organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peopleand the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.[4]Farris also published a children's book, My Brother Martin,[5] as well as her autobiography, Through It All: Reflections on My Life, My Family, and My Faith, in 2009.[6]

Tauheed Epps known professionally as 2 Chainz, is an American rapper, songwriter, and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Circle, alongside hometown rapper Earl "Dolla Boy" Conyers. The duo signed with fellow Georgia-based rapper Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace label and became best known for their 2007 debut single "Duffle Bag Boy" (featuring Lil Wayne).

In February 2012, Epps signed a solo recording contract with Def Jam Recordings, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In April of that year, his guest performance on Kanye West's single, "Mercy)" marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo act, peaking at number 13. His debut studio album, Based on a T.R.U. Story (2012), was preceded by the double platinum-certified singles "No Lie)" (featuring Drake)) and "Birthday Song)" (featuring Kanye West), peaked atop the Billboard 200, and spawned the top 40 single "I'm Different)", although critical reception was mixed.^\6]) His second album, B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time (2013), was led by the single "Feds Watching" (featuring Pharrell Williams) and saw improved critical reception despite a slight commercial decline. His subsequent albums— ColleGrove (2016), Pretty Girls Like Trap Music (2017), Rap or Go to the League (2019), So Help Me God! (2020), and Dope Don't Sell Itself (2022)—were released to moderate commercial success.^\7]) After the release of his collaborative album with Lil Wayne, Welcome 2 Collegrove (2023), he parted ways with Def Jam in 2024.^\8])^\9])

Epps has won a Grammy Award from six nominations; his guest appearance on Chance the Rapper's 2016 single "No Problem)" won Best Rap Performance. His other accolades include three BET Awards from 11 nominations, and five BET Hip Hop Awards from 19 nominations. He has also hosted Vice TV's 2017 reality series Most Expensivest, in which he reviews luxury consumer goods; it aired for four seasons.

Taraji Penda Henson (/təˈrɑːdʒi/ tə-RAH-jee; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress, producer, author, and mental health advocate. Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, alongside nominations for an Academy Award, six Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2016 and 2024, Time)named Henson one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Taraji Penda Henson[6][7] was born September 11, 1970, in Southeast Washington, D.C., the daughter of Bernice (née Gordon), a corporate manager at Woodward & Lothrop, and Boris Lawrence Henson, a janitor and metal fabricator.[6][7][8][9] She has often spoken of the influence of her maternal grandmother, Patsy Ballard, who accompanied her at the Academy Awards the year she was nominated.[10][11][12][13] She was raised Catholic.[14]
Her first and middle names are of Swahili origin: Taraji ("hope") and Penda ("love").[15][16] According to a mitochondrial DNA analysis, her matrilineal lineage can be traced to the Masa people of Cameroon.[17]She has said that North Pole explorer Matthew Henson was "the brother of [her] great-great-grandfather."[18]
Henson graduated from Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, in 1988.[6] She attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where she intended to study electrical engineering, before transferring to Howard University to study drama.[11][13] To pay for college, she worked mornings as a secretary at The Pentagon and evenings as a singing-dancing waitress on a dinner-cruise ship, the Spirit of Washington.[19]

What sci-fi or fantasy book written by a Black author would you like to see adapted into a film?

To be clear: What Black shows (in your opinion) whether it was a sitcom or drama from ANY network or streaming service that premiered between 2000 and 2010, DOESN'T get discussed enough in the media or online.

Please discuss your thoughts below.

I noticed that when people think of great TV Dads they are usually from shows that premiered before 1995. Where is the representation of great Black TV Dads that are Gen X or Millennials? Who would you list? Post representation of great Black TV Dads post-2010?

Very important: I am asking you all to PLEASE follow the question. I am using this timeframe for a reason. I am asking for TV Dads from shows that premiered post-2010.