“What’s the best way to understand the Black women I manage?” This was a question posed by a consulting client of mine. With April being Black Women’s History Month, it’s an excellent time to think about how to support Black women in your workplace. Education can help you become more culturally competent.
Though there are a number of books I can recommend, not everyone enjoys reading. It’s important to consider alternative ways to expand your understanding of Black women. How does the angry Black woman trope show up? What is misogynoir and how does it affect Black women in your workplace?
Learning about communities outside our own plays a vital role in disrupting the inherent biases that lead to discrimination. This article focuses on five shows that can expand knowledge and awareness about Black women. Understanding unique experiences and cultural nuances will help you advocate for the Black women and femmes in your workplace.
‘Girlfriends’
The early 2000s show Girlfriends, created by Mara Brock Akil, follows the journeys of four late 20s-and 30-something year old women in Los Angeles, as they navigate friendship, love, life and loss. Girlfriends, which was on for eight seasons, is currently available on Netflix. The show is expansive in the number of issues it explores, which includes Black identity, racial microaggressions, infidelity, celibacy, interracial dating, and workplace culture among many other topics. Each character is both complex and complicated and viewers are able to grow with each woman throughout the seasons of the show. Girlfriends remains a cult classic and to many, an iconic fixture in Black culture that helped to shape modern conceptions of Black womanhood.
‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’
The HBO series A Black Lady Sketch Show was created by multi-hyphenate Robin Thede and showcases sketches with a number of different characters. The show, which features a star-studded cast and an all-Black women writer’s room, uses comedy to address a plethora of topics including hair, dating and relationships, social norms, Black identity, and Black culture from the Black woman’s perspective. The Emmy award-winning show recently premiered its fourth season. Although created by Black women for Black women, the show provides non-Black viewers with creative and hilarious examples of the nuances of Black women’s experiences.
‘Harlem’
Amazon Prime’s critically acclaimed show Harlem was written by Tracy Oliver and follows four best friends living in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City as they navigate their careers and relationships. The show, which just wrapped up its second season, deals with a wide range of themes including entrepreneurship, business ownership and acquisition, socioeconomic status, online dating, parental dynamics, and fertility. Although the show is considered a comedy, many of the episodes deal with more serious yet relatable topics. The show provides a unique perspective on many of the issues that Black millennial women face.
‘Being Mary Jane’
The one-hour drama, Being Mary Jane, which initially debuted on BET, follows the life of Mary Jane Paul, a young Black woman, as she navigates work, love and family. The award-winning series centers on Paul, who is a cable news reporter, as she searches for love. Many episodes also showcase the issues that arise for Paul as a public-facing figure as she navigates her career and workplace dynamics. The show takes viewers on a journey with Paul, highlighting her trajectory as her journalism career evolves. Viewers are also shown the struggles Paul faces when it comes to fertility, family drama, and the consequences of virality. Many of the issues that Paul faces are universal experiences among Black working women and femmes around the world.
‘The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl’
The hit YouTube series Awkward Black Girl is the brainchild of media mogul Issa Rae, who started the show in 2011. The award-winning series follows the journey of awkward Black girl J, as she navigates life, love, friendship and work. The show was instrumental in providing powerful representation for the Black women and girls that consider themselves more introverted and socially awkward. Black women are often depicted as sassy or aggressive. J showcased a more relatable and dynamic character than the flattened version of Black womanhood that was often depicted at the time in the media. Awkward Black Girl can help viewers gain a multidimensional understanding of Black women and the layered experiences faced both at work and in society in general.
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