(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - as times change, we re beginning to see this evolution of black television. - this is rochester van jones. he s my butler. - we finally get to see a realistic depiction of ourselves. - issa, what s on fleek? - and the only way that that could be done was by changing the people who were telling the stories. - i don t know what that means. i know what that shit means. - by putting more seats at the table for black storytellers, writers, creators directors. - and that s a big difference in what we saw before. - [announcer] the adventures of ozzie and harriet, starring the entire nelson family. - [announcer] father knows best. (soaring instrumental music) - the tv landscape in the 1950s was considered the golden age television. you would have these great shows like i love lucy, classic television shows, but you didn t have black representation
a realistic depiction of ourselves. - issa, what s on fleek? - and the only way that that could be done was by changing the people who were telling the stories. - i don t know what that means. i know what that shit means. - by putting more seats at the table for black storytellers, writers, creators directors. - and that s a big difference in what we saw before. - [announcer] the adventures of ozzie and harriet, starring the entire nelson family. - [announcer] father knows best. (soaring instrumental music) - the tv landscape in the 1950s was considered the golden age television. you would have these great shows like i love lucy, classic television shows, but you didn t have black representation until you started seeing shows like beulah. - cereal, miss alice? - [ernie] amos n andy was the first all-black sitcom. - mornin , andy. - mornin, amos. - [ernie] but it was boycotted by the naacp, and after only two seasons in 1953, the show was canceled. - my problem with amos n
coley: every time you see someone who makes the completely ill informed idea of using blackface as a costume, that was fermented with shows like amos n andy. mother: oh my lord. toofer: you realize this is incredibly offensive? tina fey: yes. toofer: and you realize that blackface makeup re-ignites stereotypes african -americans have worked for 100 s of years to overcome? jacqueline coley: after amos n andy, the idea of people of color, both in front of and behind the scenes becomes less palatable for people who are writing the cheques. patrick gomez: television, it s ultimately there to sell you things, and so advertisers and their input matters. nielsen wasn t even counting black households in their numbers. so of course, you weren t gonna get sitcoms that showed their lives because they didn t care if you were watching or not. billy gray: on father knows best. there wasn t one black person in two hundred and three shows. we had one ethnic person, franc the gardener.
Community activists held a special LGBT program Wednesday evening outside the Kenosha County courthouse marking the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.