People. Black people were just so absent in Science Fiction, and its a blind spot. Black panther was a massive moment in our culture. They thought it was going to make 700 million. But it actually made 1. 3 billion. So, it had a business impact. It had a community impact. It opened up doors. It showed that these kinds of stories, looking at black speculative fiction, looking at black looking at horror was also highly profitable. Scifi is really a conversation about our humanity and mans relationship to technology and exploring other worlds. Its really exciting to know that more blackcentric Science Fiction is making its way onto the Television Screens finally. Black people have always loved Science Fiction and have always loved fantasy. We just didnt know it. When you think of how broad that landscape is, to not include every single individual that is participating in the world, then its a lie. We have millions and millions of stories that need to be told. And us getting our due is literally just opening the gates for everyone else. Science fiction started off as a genera the in television, you saw a world in which black people did not exist. So, you saw a future that was void of black people. Theres a Fantasy Element to scifi. And so what youre saying is that when you imagine whatever world youre imagining, you dont want us there. Thats essentially what youre saying. I think it honestly gets back to how we are viewed and, to a large extent, the limited view on who we are as people and what were capable of representing. Zero minus 7 minutes skmoelding. I grew up watching lost in space. I remember saying to my parents, mommy and daddy, if we become astronauts, we could be the first black family in outer space. Theyre like, little girl, what are you talking about . In early Science Fiction, you would probably see stories about aliens or monsters before you saw perspectives from black People Incorporated into the story. And then when black people were brought into the story, it was usually to make a point about race or otherness. It reflected this concept of just not looking at black people as people and as a part of broader humanity. In the 1960s, as the nation is dealing with the socio and political unrest, to take the crea created the Twilight Zone. In all this darkness, is there anybody that can make out the truth . The first time you saw a black person on the Twilight Zone was in a famous episode called Color Me Black about a sundown town. The town, it went dark. They were going to hang a man for shooting his bigoted white neighbor. Do you know why theres night all around us . Do you know what the blackness is . Its the hate he felt, the hate you felt, the hate all of us feel. And its too much of it. Its just too much. The sun went down, and it never came up. Even though the Twilight Zone didnt showcase black characters for the most part in that series, by 1967, it does change, and were seeing more black performers and characters on the network schedule. Youve got to go all the way back to when she came on and took over the role of cat woman. This is cat woman. 1967, shes playing a reimagined version of a white character played by julia newmar. Youll never have another cat woman like that. I dont think anybody elses tongue works like that, i dont care what you say. Perhaps. Not gonna happen. It was so amazing because all of a sudden, theres a black woman that is fighting batman. Wait a minute. With the appearance on batman, Television Executives began to see what blacks could bring to this world of Science Fiction, and we got to see more afterwards. Space, the final frontier. As the 60s progressed, a new frontier was being forged. And one of those was star trek, developed and created by gene roddenburg. Its very serious. Engage. Star trek was a landmark moment, where we lived in this new egalitarian society, and jean talked about the idea of having a flight crew of different races. When i brought in crew, both the network and Desilu Studios came in saying, what are you doing . Youre going to ruin us. That was one of the first times i saw myself in the scifi genera. After the first season of star trek, mona king met with michelle nichols. He said, no, you cant quit. He said, you have the first nonstereotypical role on television for the world to see. This is not a black role and its not a female role, and youve got it. Michelle nichols, her characters, you heard whoopi goldberg. So, it gave us black actors who were in this scifi genre. Im glad to hear it. I came into star trek the next generation, so burton was the primary representation there, jody. That is not right. I was certain that jody la forge and Lieutenant Commander wharf really were the brothers in outer space. Everyones very curious about you. I bet they are. I said to lavar burton, tell him i want to play, i want to play. So, i go, and jean says to me, okay, you have to explain this to me. Why do you want to do this . I said, jean, do you know that before lieutenant ohora, black people didnt exist in the future. I want to be that for somebody else. Thats the thing about legacy is you want to further it. You want to just do your part to put more steps down for anyone who may be coming after you. All of you will go where no one has gone before, and you will make the path by traveling it. Star trek meant that black people made it to the future. Theres so many times we didnt make it. Not only do we make it to the future, were important. Diversity matters. My powers are gone. I cant do anything. It was just a shot out of a cannon. I am the king of rock and roll. Everyone was beholden to him. Little richard I Am Everything coming in september to cnn. I have Type 2 Diabetes, but i manage it well. 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Afrofuturism is from a lens of somebody of african decent. In the 1990s, the leadin show was man tis, which carl is the first black superstar on television. It was really groundbreaking to have a black superhero on television. And for many people, this was one of their first examples of afrofuturism in Science Fiction television. You have been stung by a mantis. He stars as this man whos been shot by the police somebody helps me. Hes paralyzed but builds an exoskeleton that gives him the ability to walk. And with that ability comes for him the responsibility of fighting violence. Im carl lumley, and i was televisions first black superhero. Didnt know it. Assumed that there must have been another one. Just, you know, one i hadnt heard about. You can go on destroying each other, or you can learn to live together. Mantis was a pilot that celebrated black seen yus. Celebrated black genius. They simply felt it was time for a black superhero. At the time i read the script, i thought, oh, this is a first. Weve never seen this before. Weve never seen a black superhero. And what also blew me around was he was also surrounded by black people. I heard it was being picked up, i thought, oh, magnificent. Well be picking up where this story left off. And i heard that sam ham and sam reammy were not going to be moving forward with it. Sam reammy is a very progressive guy. When he left the show, these other people came in, and they jacked it up. By the time it moved to series, the africanization stopped. Awesome idea, doc, awesome. All the characters of color, except me, were removed. Well, even if this works and you do walk again, youll still be the same you always were. The excuse, reason, that i was given was that we are looking to appeal to a broader audience. If mantis in 1994 was given a chance to live as it was originally conceived, then you would have told millions of people, not just black people, that this is also our world. And it would have normalized an entire genre and an entire way of being and an entire people. The fact that hes young and black doesnt make him a junkie. Even though gina torrez didnt make it to the mantis series, it really was just the beginning of her sort of scifi legacy. I watched her for a decade shes one of the people i like to say, like, raised me on television. I watched her in fire fly when i was in high school. I was watched her on zena, on hercules. I didnt fit in anywhere else. The fact that im ethically ambiguous to a lot of creators out there. Where i did fit was in scifi. I could be a stand alone badass. I dont think we notice when were watching what it means that this is a door that has never been opened, being opened. Im going to take his queens, his knights, his rooks. Im knocking all his pieces off the board. It was 22 years between mantis and luke cage. When luke cage came to television in 2016, mike culter got the opportunity to play the first black marvel superhero on television. Youve got a black man who cant be shot, a bullet cant pierce his skin. Thats a premise, yall. I like like cage hero for hire because, lets be real. Im not doing all that for free. When we were looking at the criminalization of wearing a hoodie, to choose to tell that story at that time, i think was so impactful. All of us saw what happened with trayvon martin, and you saw luke cage walking through and he was just invincible. Thats what we need. It was the best kind of superhero you could have. Usually, its set in gotham or its in manhattan. To put it in harlem, that was genius but also so necessary culturally. Harlem is supposed to represent our hopes and dreams. Its the pinnacle of black art, politics, innovation. It was hugely important that luke cage do well because it was not only for the show itself, but also for the future of other black show runners and other black creators to create a show that actually reflected their own vision. It changed the industry in a major, major way. And the best part of it is luke cage was just the tip of the iceberg for what would come in the genre. Imagine youre doing something you love. Rsv could cut it short. Rsv is a contagious virus that usually causes mild symptoms but can cause more severe infections that may lead to hospitalizations. In adults 60 and older. And adults with certain underlying conditions, like copd, asthma, or congestive heart failure. Talk to your doctor and visit cutshortrsv. Com. Moving forward with node positive Breast Cancer is overwhelming. But i never just found my way; i made it. And did all i could to prevent recurrence. 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They took the property and modernized it in really smart ways. Crest williams, who plays Black Lightning, was scooter on living single. So i get to watch scooter save the world, and i love it. I love it, i love it. What i love about getting the show on the air is that its the first black Family Superhero Show thats ever been on television. By day, hes the principal of a high school, and by night, he is a Crime Fighter on the streets of greenland, married to a brilliant neuroscientist. Guess who that is. They have two wonderful daughters who eventually take on some superpowers of their own and form a Crime Fighting team. It crumbled in my hands like it was nothing. And they said the older daughter, who is a fully out, gay character at the beginning of the show, i mean, also groundbreaking that you would have a black, out character supported by her family, not talked about, not discussed, not a plot point, not a story point. She just is. Whats really cool is that Comic Book Characters really kind of go one of two routes when it comes to television, right . You have the live action success, like Black Lightning, while other characters go on to become iconic characters. There was the fantastic four, there was batman, spiderman, and superman, but static shock. Static shock was a blerd before a blerd was a term. He was a black nerd, and he got superpowers. There was an explosion last night. It was a gas. It changed me. Check it out. Not only was it entertaining. You had this kid flying around with this sewer cap with this natural hair, but it also didnt shy away from things we were all talking about and dealing with at the time. Everything from gang violence, gun violence, homelessness. They were all baked into the fabric of the show. You know, look, there was peter parker out there. But he was our version of that. It also sounded and felt very much of black culture. The sound track was very hip hop. I believe the theme song was by, like, lil romeo. Playing it straight because crime never pays it felt very black and very authentic. Im the man. Youre the Black Panther. T Black Panther was the equivalent of Captain America. Captain america is everything thats noble and pure and good about america. The Black Panther is that for africa. God works through me the same as you. There is no feat i can achieve that you are not capable of. One time we were out at lunch, and they said, reggie, we should make a tv show out of your Black Panther comic book. Yeah, thats not a bad idea. And we put together the most amazing cast. We had kerry washington. I mean, it was an allkiller cast. And the show was a hit. The success of the animated series helped lay the groundwork for the movie. It is your time to be king. It was the first superhero to make over 1 billion at the box office. So, not only did it succeed. Black panther is the most successful superhero. Kids need to be able to see themselves represented as the main character in animation that theyre watching. These images become engrained in how we form our opinions about what were capable of. Because if we see the black characters on screen now, thats going to inspire a whole new generation of creators to come in and produce fa