Special Edition 2 - Representation of Black single mothers in US Black sitcoms in the 90's
Yé Moun La! This is my special edition #2. It’s the long version of a presentation I did in October 2019 during a workshop at the Annual Congress of the Institute of the Americas. I had been invited by the University Professor Lissell Quiroz and PhD student Christelle Gomis. My presentation focused on the representation of Black single mothers in US Black sitcoms in the 1990s.
0:00 - 0:35 : Intro + Opening credits
0:36 - 2:45 : how Black American TV shows made me feel represented when French TV didn’t.
2:46 - 5:00 : the reasons I chose this topic for my presentation at this workshop at the Annual Congress of the Institute of the Americas.
to cross gender and race in an analysis in a way I’ve always wanted to do
to reflect on TV shows from my childhood now that I’m in my 30’s
to make a connection between the Caribbean “fanm potomitan” [t/n: pillar woman] myth and the overall image of the strong Black woman cliché
5:01 - 6:50 : Black moms characters are rarely listed in favorite TV moms rankings which means that motherhood is pictured mostly through the representation of White women.
6:51 - 9:30 :
Julia (1968 - 1971), first primetime sitcom ever with a Black woman as a lead character + contextualization of the negative perception of Black motherhood
question : how to normalize Black motherhood while still trying to present it as a specific experience ?
9:31 - 10:15 : description of the three TV shows I will analyze : “Thea”, “In The House” and “The Parkers”.
Thea, Jackie and Nikki play off a reassuring image of the Black mom stereotypes
These characters are subversive because they affirm their Black identity
10:16 - 12:17 : the importance of respectability through marital status
12:18 - 14:20 : these three characters are a compromise between the contemporary mammy trope and the matriarch trope
14:21 - 15:45 : these three characters willingly exclude themselves from Black safe spaces and Black networks
15:46 - 18:19 : these characters are Black women unwilling to settle in their love life
18:20 - 19:32 : these characters are Black women trying to move up in their professional field
19:33 - 24:09 : these characters are Black women celebrating and living Black culture: soul food, soul music and faith in education to reach a better social status.
24:10 - 26:04 : “the power of self definition” (Patricia Hill Collins) to express their reality as Black single moms and to reject negative and false narratives on them
26:05 - 27:22 : conclusion + outro + ending credits
TV shows
Thea, ABC, 1993 - 1994
In The House (saisons 1 and 2), NBC, 1995 - 1996
The Parkers, UPN, 1999 - 2004
Main academic sources
Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought, 1990
Donald Bogle, Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television, 2001