2016 has been a year of both turmoil and entertainment. As the injustices and atrocities that the African American community has suffered for over a Century come to the forefront in all of its graphic violence, the mainstream representation of young black people looking to carve out new cinematic identities has experienced a renaissance. Ava Duverney, Kenya Barris, Issa Rae, Misha Green, Nate Parker, and Donald Glover have all been instrumental in the overhaul of what it means to be a black creative within mainstream film and television. At different times during the year I have been pleased and in awe of their stories and representations of the modern black experience.
I did however, find myself feeling as if a certain segment of the African American community has gone underrepresented. As many of you know, I have written many articles, reviews, and critiques on treatment of modern day black males in mainstream media. And though many of these representations have been nuanced and multi-dimensional, they have also fallen into one specific trope; that of the unemployed black male struggling to adequately take care of house and home. Of the mainstream representations of black males on both network and cable television, only two have portrayed black men in successful stages of employment. The Lebron James produced Survivor's Remorse, which excellently portrays a black man named Reggie Vaughn (played by Ronreaco Lee) as he attempts to further the wealth, influence, and legacy of his NBA player cousin. The second, Black-ish, portrays Anthony Anderson as the Howard University graduate Andre Johnson, who works as an advertising executive while providing for his lovely wife and four children. Both of these television shows portray intelligent, hard working black men who always find a way provide for their families, they are both also in their late 30's-early 40's. I found myself asking who was going to tell the story of the younger, mid to late 20's Black men who are working to advance within the American workforce? These stories of black men, some with degrees, some with only the determination to make more of themselves than what society at large expects of them?
I decided to stop wondering and actually tell the story myself or at least my version of such.
Enter The Blue Collar Hustle
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most people who test viewed the episode early actually praised our sound quality. I'll take a relook at it and speak with my director.
jay lost.'
