What We’re Watching 2021 edition

TV has only recently begun bouncing back from the mental year that was 2020, with production and casts allowed to return to filming. So today we’re highlighting a few of the shows that we are currently watching, waiting on or hoping will be back before the end of 2021.

Top Boy

Top Boy is said to be currently filming it’s 4th season in London! Date TBC

Atlanta

Renewed for a 4th season. Season 3 is still in production.

The Chi

Renewed for a 4th Season in September 2020. Date TBC

Power Book II: Ghost

Renewed for a 2nd Season (duh!)

Snowfall

Season 4 ongoing, 5th Season not yet confirmed.

Dear White People

DWP will be back for its 4th and final season at some point in 2021! Date TBC

Insecure

As much as it breaks our hearts, Insecure will be back for its 5th and final season. However, Issa Rae has teamed up with HBO Max and City Girls to produce a comedy series ‘Rap Shit’

Euphoria

Will be back for a 2nd Season. Date TBC *chills*

Blood and Water

A 2nd Season of Blood and Water has been confirmed. Date TBC

Kenya Barris was really in his bag with the last few!

Black-ish - Season 7 ongoing. 8th Season not yet confirmed.

Grown-ish - Season 3 ongoing. Season 4 has been confirmed and is set to air August 27th, 2021!

Mixed-ish -Season 2 ongoing, 23 episodes confirmed, with S02E06 airing tonight.

Black AF - Netflix has confirmed a 2nd Season of BLack AF. Date TBC.

90’s Sitcom

90’s black sitcoms gave us laughter, fashion, culture and most importantly representation. The 90’s was truly the golden age, it was the decade with the most black sitcom to date. Thanks to the 80’s, that paved the way for more black leads with shows like The Cosby Show.

It’s unfortunate that many sitcoms got cancelled leading up to the 2000s. But it was an era that gave black people an opportunity to introduce the black experience by giving it a platform. Black people were able showcase their talents and challenge many stereotypes fabricated over the years in television. However, there are those who would argue that the 90’s weren't all that great and that many of the sitcoms enforced these stereotypes rather than trying to dismantle them. They have been criticised for falling into the trap of colourism, with many shows dening dark skinned women the lead role while portraying them as angry and ghetto.

Overall, the 90’s was only just the beginning, it gave television a taste of what creative black individuals were cable off. Many 90’s sitcoms laid the foundation in which many black creators now seek inspiration from. It opened the doors for many young actresses /actors that we have grown to love.

It’s amazing to see how growing up in Britain many of us still found familiarity and were able to identify with many of these characters, even though these shows were based on the black American experience. Goes to show how important representation is and how the black experience is universal and by capturing it, we are able to connect with our brothers and sisters across the globe.

Join us as we walk down memory lane and relive all these monumental moments.

Coming up >

Sister Sister

1994 - 1999

90's Movie List

90's TV and theatre was especially good for black representation. Not only did we revel in seeing faces similar to ours and situations familiar to us, but we were also able to see ourselves reflected in epic love stories and dramas.

Many of these stories were written, produced and directed by black artists who brought them to life; names that we should be familiar with like Spike Lee, the Hughes Brothers, Earnest Dickerson, John Singleton, Keenen Ivory Wayans and many more. These films were also filled with black faces that we have come to know and love. These opportunities opened up doors for actresses such as Jada Pinkett Smith, Nia long, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and actors like Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding Jr, Larenz Tate, Denzel Washington, Tupac Shakur; who became regulars on our screens.

The black movies of the 90's era also provided some of the hottest soundtracks, many of which are also still revisited today. Soundtracks such as those from Waiting to Exhale, The Nutty Professor and The Wood were a few of the soundtracks to my childhood. I can still picture a young me singing along to Whitney Houston's 'Exhale (Shoop Shoop)' in my imaginary feels.

Following this 90 and early 2000’s era of black cinematography the rate at which we got to experience these iconic black stories seems to have declined;and so many of us find ourselves revisiting and reliving nostalgic moments by re-watching these films.

Below we present a list of A FEW of our favourites from the 90's, ranging from comedies to dramas and even horror

1. Love Jones

2. Poetic Justice

3. Boyz n the Hood

4. Don't Be a Menace

5. Juice

6. Set it off

7. The Best Man

8. Waiting to Exhale

9. Friday

10. Above the Rim

11. Soul Food

12. The Wood

13. House Party

14. Boomerang

15. A Thin Line Between Love and Hate

16. Blade

17. How Stella Got Her Groove Back

18. Jason’s Lyric

19. Menace II Society

20. The Inkwell

21. White Men Can't Jump

22. New Jack City

23. Belly

24. Cool Running

25. Bad Boys

26. Malcom X

27. Candyman

28. What's Love Got to Do With It

29. Crooklyn

30. The Players Club

31. Do the Right Thing

32. Eve's Bayou

33. Life

34. B.A.P.S

35. Sister Act

36. The Nutty Professor