While BET is still doing an incredible job representing black voices and black owned businesses, they are not...
In the business of nostalgia. While they will show reruns and play ‘Baby Boy’ once a week. They don’t base their broadcasting on 80’s - 90’s black television AND they are more interested (and rightly so) in cultivating modern black television and showcasing fresh faces in the black community.
Aren’t a streaming service. Television is rapidly dying. Young black kids aren’t tuning into BET on a daily basis (Unlike 13 year old me eager to watch Lil’ Bow Wow music videos on 106 & Park). BUT, they are streaming Netflix - not only countering the attention spans of adolescents, but exploring an era of television that they unfortunately missed out on.
Yes, Netflix’s implementation of black faces and voices during a time where the #BlackLivesMatter movement is ‘Trending’, and at its peak, could be simply a marketing move and not an ethical one. Their ‘money grab’ could also unintentionally be a form of growth and education for young black kids whose lives are rarely represented ACCURATELY by the media.
Netflix’s ‘Strong Black Lead’ sub group (launched in 2018) provided not just the black community, but THE community, with a genre that never got a fair shot AND introduces a dialogue that was experienced by many but forgotten and ignored by the majority.
Here are some examples:
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