Black-ish Is Coming to an End

Kenya Barris’s hit sitcom Black-ish is officially coming to an end on April 19. The series ran for eight long seasons and touched on controversial topics that affected the Black community.

The purpose of the show is to bring to light the issues that upper-class Black people face living in America. These topics include racism, colorism, the N-Word, the pandemic, etc. 

From the first episode, Kenya Barris exposed the critical issue that most African-Americans face when living in a predominately white neighborhood: the feeling that they do not belong. Kenya Barris explained his perspective on why he created this historic series. 

“I realized that we were living in a world where we are seen but not seen, but were seen by each other,” stated Barris.

The stereotype that Black Americans are less Black because of their higher socioeconomic status is what Black-ish calls out. Known actor Tracee Ellis Ross made it known that the purpose of the sitcom is to shed light on a family, who, in her own words, is “surviving and thriving.” 

Known actors like Sydney Poitier, Hattie McDaniel, and Denzel Washington paved the way for other Black creators and actors to be able to express themselves on a national platform that was not always made for Black Americans. Shows like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Cosby show introduced the upper-class Black person to the media, and Black-ish is unique because it calls out the problems specifically.

This past weekend, the Black-ish cast met for the last time at the National African-American Museum of History and Culture in Washington D.C. for the last time. The emotions were through the roof as they walked their last red carpet as a cast. Cast member Marsai explained the show’s impact on her, being that it was an all-Black cast and her emotions on the red carpet. 

“It was incredible. And it’s very interesting that, like a lot of people, don’t get to have those experiences, and the fact that this was my first TV show and it was the environment that I was so comfortable in would just make it even better. So I mean, not only were we a black cast, but. We were funny, we were comfortable, we felt warm, we felt seen, and that doesn’t happen all the time,” stated Marsai. 

The series touched the souls of many Black people while also making them laugh. Black-ish will most definitely be missed. One quote that stood out the most was from Ross: “Black-ish continues to show the world that a Black family is an American family.”

This show will continue to set the standard for other series to come after it. Make sure to tune in for the Season Finale on April 19 at 9 p.m ET. on ABC and can be streamed on Hulu.