Because after the last incident, i had children bussed in. When i think about the history of black television, i think about when black folks watch, we watch to zero in on us. Instead of making us celebrate your holidays, why dont you celebrate some of ours . What about tupacs birthday . And when you have so little, it means everything. All of those shows, they all matter so much. It feels like theres been more of an ebb and flow and an evolution. It is so important for us to have true authenticity. Why we always the only black people here . Thats why representation matters, black stories told by black people. Im trying to tell you something. [man] we set the pace for sit comedy. You hear that, elizabeth . Im coming to join ya, honey . From Sanford And Son to the other black shows. What is this . Loved The Jeffersons. Monogrammed shirt, brand new silk tie. Is that a tie . I thought your tongue was hanging out. Good times is one of my favorite sitcoms because you could not tell me that
because after the last incident, i had children bussed in. - when i think about the history of black television, i think about when black folks watch, we watch to zero in on us. - instead of making us celebrate your holidays, why don t you celebrate some of ours? what about tupac s birthday? - and when you have so little, it means everything. all of those shows, they all matter so much. - it feels like there s been more of an ebb and flow and an evolution. - it is so important for us to have true authenticity. - why we always the only black people here? - that s why representation matters, black stories told by black people. - i m trying to tell you something. - [man] we set the pace for sit comedy. - you hear that, elizabeth? i m coming to join ya, honey? - from sanford and son to the other black shows. - what is this? - loved the jeffersons. - monogrammed shirt, brand new silk tie. - is that a tie? i thought your tongue was hanging out. - good times is one of my favori
run, yasmine! run like the wind! ental music) - do you feel that there is not enough representation? because after the last incident, i had children bussed in. - when i think about the history of black television, i think about when black folks watch, we watch to zero in on us. - instead of making us celebrate your holidays, why don t you celebrate some of ours? what about tupac s birthday? - and when you have so little, it means everything. all of those shows, they all matter so much. - it feels like there s been more of an ebb and flow and an evolution. - it is so important for us to have true authenticity. - why we always the only black people here? - that s why representation matters, black stories told by black people. - i m trying to tell you something. - [man] we set the pace for sit comedy. - you hear that, elizabeth? i m coming to join ya, honey? - from sanford and son to the other black shows. - what is this? - loved the jeffersons. - monogrammed shirt, brand new
[roaring] [muffled shouting] - oh, my god, this is so terrible. [crowd weeping, coughing] - mister! mister! mister! [somber music] - [coughing] - we came from the 82nd floor, and i don t know where my parents are, i don t know i hope to god they okay. - i was standing next to one world trade center, and then all of a sudden i heard rumbling, and we all started running away from it. the glass, like, blew out and threw me onto the sidewalk. - i was thinking of going back to try and find people from my office, but it was chaos. so john s like, let s go. i start to leave and i see people jumping from the top of the world trade center. oh, god. [radio chatter] - it was unbelievable, and it this guy s still trapped; we couldn t get to him.
to be a consultant on the show. so when we would write out a storyline, we d send that off to dr. poussaint, and that would come back with all his notes on it, and alvin poussaint was the guy that grounded us to make sure that we were always representing this black family in the best light. - in the 1980s, the cosby show gave a vision of blackness that was comfortable. - we re here to say goodbye to lamont goldfish. - the way that it conveyed blackness specifically was often quite subtle. it was in the art that was on the walls. it was in the music that was being played. it was in the sweatshirts that they wore referencing a historically black college. - cosby doesn t come on on nbc when they re at their height. he comes on when they re in the dumps. - fight, fight! (upbeat music) (audience laughs) - and next thing you know, the number one show on television is an african american comedy. (laughs) (audience laughs) (muffled shouting) bill cosby was, to all of us, america s dad.