Transcripts For CNNW See 20240704

They thought it was gonna 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. dramatic music Rocket Thrusting it showed that these kinds of stories, looking at black speculative fiction, looking at afrofuturism and blacks in scifi, 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. upbeat music no Ray Gun Firing when Science Fiction started off as a genre in television, you saw a world that in which black people did not exist. So you saw a future that was void of black people. Theres 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. [intercom voice] zero minus seven minutes and holding. I grew up watching Lost In Space and i remember saying to my parents well, like, 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 and 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. Twilight Zone theme music in the 1960s as the nation is dealing with the socio and political unrest of the time, writerdirector rod serling decides that to take unrest that the nation was dealing with and package it in a scifi show, and he created the Twilight Zone. In all this darkness is there anybody who can make out the truth . You know, the first time you really saw a black person on the Twilight Zone was ivan dixon. And he was in a famous episode called Color Me Black about a sundown town. The town, it went dark. They were Gonna 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 theres 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. You Gotta Go All The Way back to eartha kitt when she came on and took over the role of cat woman. This is cat woman. In 1967, shes playing a reimagined version of a white character played by julie newmar. Youll never have another cat woman like that. I dont think anybody elses tongue works like that. I dont care what you say. Purrrhaps. Grrr, not gonna happen. purring chuckling it was so amazing because all of a sudden theres a black woman that is fighting batman. Wait a minute. With eartha kitts 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. [captain kirk] space, the final frontier. star trek theme music as the 60s progressed, a new frontier was being forged. And one of those was star trek, developed and created by Gene Roddenberry. Its very serious. Engage. Electronic Beeping star trek was a landmark moment where we lived in this new egalitarian society. And Gene Roddenberry talked about the idea of having a flight crew of different races. When i brought in a mixed racial crew, both the network and desilu studios, which had it at that time, came in saying, what are you doing . Youre going to ruin us. [captain kirk] Lieutenant Uhura. intense music that was one of the first times i saw myself in the scifi genre. And after the first season of star trek Martin Luther king met with nichelle nichols. And she told him that she wanted to quit the show. So Martin Luther king said no, you cant quit. He says, 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. Nichelle nichols, her character as uhura gave us whoopi goldberg, i think it gave us levar burton. So it gave us black actors who were in this scifi genre. Im glad to hear it. I actually came into star trek in the Next Generation and so levar burton was the primary representation there, Geordi La Forge. That is not right. I was certain that Geordi La Forge and Lieutenant Commander worf really were the brothers in outer space. Well everyones very curious about you. Yes, ill bet they are. I said to levar burton, tell em i wanna play, i wanna play. So i go and Gene Roddenberry says to me, okay, you have to explain this to me. Why do you wanna do this . I said, gene, do you know that before Lieutenant Uhura black people didnt exist in the future . I want to be that for somebody else. Thats the thing about legacy is that you wanna further it, you wanna just do your part to just 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 because theres so many times that we dont make it. Not only do we make it to the future, were important. Diversity matters. Dynamic Music my powers are gone, grams. I cant do anything. tense music [ tiger dust by Yello Playing in the background ] turn right on to western avenu. [ dog barks ] you have reached your destination. One more . One more time turn right on to western avenu. Id. Light in the allelectric id. 4. Its the little things, its a vw. Open talenti and raise the jar to gelato made from scratch. Raise the jar to flavors from the worlds finest ingredients. And now, from jars to bars. New Talenti Gelato and sorbetto mini bars. 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. Verzenio reduces the risk of recurrence of hrpositive, her2negative, nodepositive, early Breast Cancer with a high chance of returning, as determined by your doctor when added to hormone therapy. Hormone Therapy Works outside the cell. While Verzenio Works Inside to help stop the growth of cancer cells. Diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection. At the first sign, call your doctor, start an antidiarrheal, and drink fluids. Before taking verzenio, tell your doctor about any fever, chills, or other signs of infection. Verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. Lifethreatening Lung Inflammation can occur. Tell your doctor about any new or worsening trouble breathing, cough, or chest pain. Serious Liver Problems can happen. Symptoms include fatigue, appetite loss, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising. Blood clots that can lead to death have occurred. Tell your doctor if you have pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain, and rapid breathing or heart rate, or if you are nursing, pregnant, or plan to be. Im making my own way forward. Ask your doctor about everyday verzenio. 5 all you can eat pancakes are back to celebrate ihops 65th anniversary. So come on in. Even if its your birthday, too. Available for a limited time only at ihop. Download the app and start earning free food. At pnc bank, you can find us in big cities and small towns across the us, where our focus is to always support the people who live and work there. Because you call these communities home, and we do too. Pnc bank. upbeat music historically, Science Fiction, its always been told from an Eastern European lens. Afrofuturism tells that same type of story, however, the lens is that of somebody that is of african descent. So in the mid 1990s when fox was still a fledgling network, the x files theme music one of its biggest shows was the x files, but the leadin show was a show called m. A. N. T. I. S. Which starred carl lumbly as the first black superhero on network 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. Theyve been stung by a mantis. Get him carl lumbly stars as this man whos been shot by the police. Somebody help 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 lumbly and i was televisions first black superhero. Didnt know it. Assumed that there mustve 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. M. A. N. T. I. S. Was a pilot that celebrated black genius. Two basic patents by the age of 15, millionaire at 18, m. I. T. On a genius grant. Sam hamm and sam raimi simply felt it was time for a black superhero. At the time that i read the script i thought, oh, this a first. Wed never seen this before. Wed never seen a black superhero. And what also blew me away is that he was also surrounded by black people. When i heard we were being picked up, i thought, oh, magnificent well be picking up where this story left off. And then i heard that sam hamm and sam raimi were not actually going to be moving forward with it. Sam raimi is a very progressive guy. You know, 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 of the characters of color except me were removed. Well, even if this works and you do walk again, youll still be the same sob you always were. The excuse, reason, that i was given was that we are looking to appeal to a broader audience. If m. A. N. T. I. S. 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 wouldve 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 junky. Even though gina torres didnt make it to the m. A. N. T. I. S. 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 firefly when i was in high school. And i was watching her on xena, on hercules. Im nebula. I fit in Science Fiction because i didnt fit anywhere else. The fact that im ethnically ambiguous to a lot of creators out there. Where i did fit was in scifi. I could be a standalone 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 gonna take his queen. His knights, his rooks. Im knockin all his pieces off the board. It was 22 years between m. A. N. T. I. S. And luke cage. When luke cage came to television in 2016, mike colter got the opportunity to play the first black Marvel Television superhero. I mean, you got a black man that cant be shot. Bullet cant pierce his skin. Thats a premise, yall. shot fired body crashing i love luke cages original name, luke cage, hero for hire because lets be real, im not doin 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 to Trayvon Martin and then you saw luke cage walking through and he just was invincible. And youre like, thats what we need. It was the best kind of superhero you could have. dance music usually, its set in gotham or its in manhattan. And 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 about it is that luke cage was just the tip of the iceberg for what would come in the genre. tense orchestral music woman why did we choose safelite . Vo for us, driving around is the only way we can get our baby to sleep, so when our windshield cracked, we needed it fixed right. We went to safelite. Com. Theres no one else wed trust. Their experts replaced our windshield, and recalibrated our cars advanced safety system. They focus on our safety. So we can focus on this little guy. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. 5 all you can eat pancakes are back to celebrate ihops 65th anniversary. So come on in. Even if its your birthday, too. Available for a limited time only at ihop. Download the app and start earning free food. I have Type 2 Diabetes, but i manage it well. Its a little pill with a big story to tell. I take oncedaily jardiance, at each days staaart. As time went on it was easy to seee im lowering my a1c. Jardiance works 24 7 in your body to flush out some sugar and for adults with Type 2 Diabetes and known heart disease, jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too. Jardiance may cause serious side effects including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, that can lead to sudden worsening of kidney function, and Genital Yeast or urinary tract infections. A rare, lifethreatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. Stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction, and dont take it if youre on dialysis. Taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Jardiance is really swell, the little pill with a big story to tell. upbeat music after the success of luke cage, then dc said, oh, well, we should do one too. They looked around and theyre like, okay, weve got Black Lightning they took the property and modernized it in really smart ways. Cress 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 freeland, 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. I dont, it just crumbled in my hands like it was nothing. Annissa, the older daughter, who is a fully out gay character at the beginning of the show, i mean, also Ground Breaking 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. Hey. Whats really cool is that Comic Book Characters really kinda go one of two routes when it comes to television, right . You have the live action success like Black Lightning, while some other Comic Book Characters would go on to become iconic, animated series. The 90s and early 2000s actually had a ton of very successful animated shows. There was the fantastic four, there was batman, spider man, and there was superman. But we really wouldnt see our first black animated superhero until we got static shock. Static shock was about a blerd. Now that was before blerd was even a term. But he was a black nerd, he was smart, and he got superpowers. There was an explosion last night. There was this gas. It changed me, richie. Check it out not only was it entertaining, you have this, this kid flying around on this sewer cap with his natural hair, but it also didnt shy away from things that we were all talking about and dealing with at the time. Everything from Gang Violence and gun violence, homelessness, they were all baked into the fabric of the show. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Electricity Zapping 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 soundtrack was like, very hiphop based. I believe the theme song was by like, lil romeo. lil romeo singing static and roam we down all the way playing it straight cause crime never pays okay it felt very black and very authentic. I am a man. Youre the Black Panther, the sacred god of our clan. The 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. And 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. I was like, oh, yeah, thats not a bad idea. And we put together the most amazing cast. We had djimon hounsou, alfre woodard. 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 ground work for the movie. It is your time to be king. It was the first superhero to make over A Billion Dollars 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 ingrained in how we form our opinions about what were capable of. Because if we see the black characters onscreen now, thats going to inspire a whole new generation of creators to come in and produce fantastic content thats going to highlight black stories, black life in horror, in scifi, and far beyond. Detect this living with hiv, i learned i can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. Thats why i switched to dovato. Dovato is a complete hiv treatment for some adults. No other complete hiv pill uses fewer medicines to help keep you undetectable than dovato. Detect this most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. Dovato is as effective with just 2. If you have hepatitis b, dont stop dovato without talking to your doctor. Dont take dovato if youre allergic to its ingredients or taking dofetilide. This can cause serious or lifethreatening side effects. If you have a rash or allergic reaction symptoms, stop dovato and get medical help right away. Serious or lifethreatening lactic acid buildup and Liver Problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have kidney or Liver Problems, or if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. Dovato may harm an unborn baby. Most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. Detect this i stay undetectable with fewer medicines. Ask your doctor about switching to dovato. Oh, hello hi do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as 300 . Really . And your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. Downy protects fibers, doing more than detergent alone. See . This one looks brand new. Saves me money . Im starting to like downy. Downy saves loads. 5 all you can eat pancakes are back to celebrate ihops 65th anniversary. So come on in. Even if its your birthday, too. Available for a limited time only at ihop. Download the app and start earning free food. Sleepovers just arent what they used to be. A house full of screens . Basically no hiccups . You guys have no idea how good youve got it. How old are you . Like, 80 . Back in my day, it was scary stories and flashlights. We dont get scared. Oh, really . Mom can see your search history. Thats what i thought. Introducing the Next Generation 10g network. Only from xfinity. upbeat music black characters are getting more of an opportunity to be wellrounded human beings. They have backstory and they have full, wellrounded lives in and of themselves. You finally figured out what it means to be alive. tense music raising dion was a number one kids and family show for netflix, globally, in 2019. It was a simple story about a mother caring about her son. Dion uhoh. You left school. Dont be mad, mom get your stuff and get to the car. Raising a young black man in todays environment whos a superhero at the same time. Time to clean up the neighborhood. Its an awesome show for kids to see themselves in a magical way, and even the actress going through the emotions of losing a husband and a father and that love, and that connection, and for kids to see that there is black love, even in the supernatural. This isnt true, is it . Youre just a figment in my head. Thats all there is left. In the beginning, there might be one black person in a scifi show and you most certainly didnt ever see them at the center of that story. And now with shows like altered carbon, i think that black people are in the future in a way that we didnt see before. Altered carbon was really one of my favorite shows to direct. I go to the show and i realize, oh my god, this show has three black leads in it. We have Anthony Mackie, renee elise goldsberry, and simone missick. I dont know how we have these three amazing black leads in such an iconic show. Hey, i dont wanna walk into an ambush. Got it. Things are definitely changing. Youre always paying for it, darling. The difference is our costs are fixed and posted right there on the door. You talk about my favorite Science Fiction show, it would be westworld. This pain. [sonja] the acting is so good. Its all i have left of him. So westworld is set up in this futuristic world where you have elite people who get to live out their fantasies in this old west Amusement Park that is populated by artificial intelligence. Robots. But these robots are very humanlike and they stage an uprising. I love that show because the hubris of wealthy humans. It put them in a situation where they get to run everything and then lets see the horror of that. I think that it is a perfect metaphor, in some ways, for what were always living in. We have thandiwe, jeffrey wright, tessa thompson, amazing, amazing, super talented black actors who have characters that are so complex and fully realized. They are not footnotes, they are not just sidekicks. To have so many black talent sharing the space and sharing the screen in a significant way was important, particularly in a genre like scifi where that hasnt traditionally been the case. I was thinking about this the other day. I have three kids, ages 20, 22, and 24. You know, their generation and even the Younger Generation have no idea the strides that have been made. They watch Something Like watchmen and they see some of the, a female lead in regina king throwing down, being active and athletic, and fighting and the supernatural aspect of it all. I find joy when i see these projects taking off. And i see different representation. Its a beautiful thing to see that. Regina king plays this character, angela, who is a cop by day, superhero by night, whos investigating this racist entity thats infiltrated the city of tulsa. I was reading Tanehisi Coates writing and he mentions something in The Case For Reparations in just one paragraph, which was the tulsa race massacre. And i couldnt believe that i did not know that this horrific thing had happened in tulsa, oklahoma in 1921 where all of the white citizens of tulsa basically destroyed this immensely affluent piece of black culture. Damon lindelof wasnt alone. When the watchmen premiered, america was watching real events that happened in American History that had all been erased from our education. And most folks had no idea of the brutality that happened at the tulsa race massacre. All of this played out not just in the ratings from the show, but also in the search results on that evening as folks tried to find out more about this incredible event they knew nothing about. Yeah, weve come a long way from, you know, from not being able to showcase real issues that happened to, i mean, highlighting the shit of of em. And i think its great for television. I think what happened very quickly was the writers in the watchmen room were sort of like, this is not about teaching you. We are going to vigorously defend this material and make sure that you dont do something harmful. We generated this Incredible Television experience that was only authentic because i shut up, because i see the creative power, because i listened and learned. Well these shows are resonating with so many people because they explore the human experience. As were thinking about technologies, as were reconciling with histories, we see ourselves in these stories, in these characters, and were cheering them on. So while black characters of Science Fiction were now being celebrated, another genre is coming about. And thats horror. tense music begin. Were kind of getting to a place through black horror and black Science Fiction to finally find a way to start to tell our stories in this format. Did you see her, momma . No, i didnt see anything baby. But you felt it, didnt you . intense music i need it cool at night. You trying to ice me out of the bed . Baby, only on game nights. You know you are retired right . Am i . Ya save up to 500 on the new sleep number® smart bed. Plus, free Home Delivery when you add an adjustable base. Shop now only at sleep number®. From prom dresses. To workouts. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. Now as youre thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need, make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. I was stuck. 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I just gave it a lift. Ask about vraylar and learn how abbvie could help you save. [people chatting] situation by yazoo [water splashing] blue eyed dressed for every situation moving through the doorway of a nation pick me up and. [opening can] at pnc bank, you can find us in big cities and small towns across the us, where our focus is to always support the people who live and work there. Because you call these communities home, and we do too. Pnc bank. Boiled versus grilled franks. Always a contentious issue for this council. And today is no different as we conclude the tally tied as usual. [announcer] do you have an Invention Idea but dont know what to do next . Call invent help today. They can help you get started with your idea. Call now 8007100020. upbeat music unlike scifi, horror actually did embrace black characters a lot more frequently, but they were often the first to die. dripping water tense music but then we see hbos true blood come out and it was just a beacon of representation left and right, and particularly for black characters. Lafayette, gay, black character in a fantasy setting, i mean, come on, thats like my catnip. To see lafayette be gay and black, and not die was actually a pretty Ground Breaking sight. It was actually kind of revolutionary. And we saw rutina wesley. Aint you ashamed of yourself . Whatd you just say to me . I said any particular brand of cognac . Their characters that started off in ways that could have totally been sidelined and yet the show embraced them, bringing them further and further into the narrative. True blood allowed the marginalization of vampires to serve as an avatar for the marginalization of lgbtq and African Americans, people of color, and even the marginalization within those communities. You still aint makin me eat no aids burger. Well all you gotta do is say hold the aids. Here. Eat it. Sinister Music The Walking Dead was ushering in new black characters in a very cool way. We can beat em. This isnt the end. Im sick of playing defense. So youre just gonna take on all of em . That was definitely a watershed moment with danai playing that character and really shifting what some folks idea of what a Strong Female character could look like. Thank god. You know, people never really talked about the interracial relationship that michonne had with rick grimes and its because who has time for racism . Its zombies. Machine Gun Firing Zombies Growling i remember marveling about there being two black women in the core cast of this show and how amazing that was. We can take em. Looks right. Especially because they were not at odds with each other and because they were two completely different black women, that was huge. All right, you all go home too. Ill finish this one myself. Angela bassett played the revered voodoo priestess, marie laveau. Usually, voodoo is completely villainized in most Science Fiction, and in this one, it was handled with an element of respect and certainly revere for a character that many people didnt expect to see onscreen. She done messed with the wrong witch and she knows it. And now you know it. Tense Droning glass cracks black mirror is this exciting Anthology Series which pulls on both horror and Science Fiction to create these stories in the notsofaroff future. Computer Blipping when i think of black mirror, i think of really incredible performances by daniel kaluuya, letitia wright, gugu mbatharaw, michaela coel. Black mirror wasnt afraid to put black actors into the spotlight and to show that they could carry a scifi or a horror episode and everyone would love it. In one of the episodes within that series, striking vipers, unbelievable. It was so good, starring Anthony Mackie, yahya abdulmateen, nichole beharie. You seeing someone . No. No. Then why dont you want me . You always used to want me. My jaw hit the floor and never got up. Okay, this is some stuff, yall. No, no, no. gasping two cis, black, straight men in their vr fantasies having a fullon love relationship . Mind blown. The Subject Matter alone is really exciting and it does what Science Fiction is supposed to do which says this is plausible. Anytime we have an opportunity to see black actors in shows that are telling stories that arent the run of the mill, stereotypical stories, that helps an audience see us differently, embrace us differently, helps networks and studios realize that they can tell more unique stories and unique Points Of View from black people. Tense Droning Sinister Music and action Sinister Music the next thing were gonna do after the shot is the whole waltz over. Jordan peele changed the game. He completely broke the door open not only to black horror films and black scifi but just black nerdyness in general. We see tv shows blossoming that are dealing with these racial traumas, looking at these tough histories, as exemplified in the Twilight Zone reboot, in them, in The Underground Railroad where people are learning about history but theyre also realizing that wow, these traumas are the basis of horror that people have experienced. Sinister Music them was about this family that moved into this neighborhood which was predominantly white. Did not want them there. And tried their damndest to drive them crazy to the point that they would actually leave. Now how many of yall been in that situation . Where youve been the black person in a predominantly white environment and they want you out . Tires Squealing theyre gaining on us take this left up ahead i really enjoyed Lovecraft Country. I have so much respect for it because it was weaving in that Historical Context with the imaginative aspect of scifi. I just thought it was brilliant. You dont get to see enough programs where you feel like it is a representation of who we were at that time where you saw middle class African American people who had jobs and families, and we had neighborhoods and everything was together. I will see you when you get back, pop. You will, baby. Mmm from there, you built in the terror of just being black at the time. Were citizens. Youre a veteran, for gods sake. Our money spends just as good as anyone elses. Misha green is a phenomenal writer and producer, and storyteller, and hopefully we will continue to see more narratives from her. You know, Lovecraft Country got a lot of acclaim and attention. I think so long as the shows continue to do well, i think thats going to bode well for black creators. Im looking forward to more people coming into the horror and scifi space and giving us a Vision Of The Future that incorporates all of us. So dont say i didnt warn you. orchestral music woman why did we choose safelite . Vo for us, driving around is the only way we can get our baby to sleep, so when our windshield cracked, we needed it fixed right. We went to safelite. Com. Theres no one else wed trust. Their experts replaced our windshield, and recalibrated our cars advanced safety system. They focus on our safety. So we can focus on this little guy. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. Living with metastatic Breast Cancer means i cherish my memories. But i dont just look back on them, i look forward to the chance to make new ones every day with verzenio. Verzenio is proven to help you live significantly longer when taken with fulvestrant. Verzenio fulvestrant is for hr , her2 metastatic Breast Cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy. Diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection. At the first sign, call your doctor, start an antidiarrheal, and drink fluids. Before taking verzenio, tell your doctor about any fever, chills, or other signs of infection. Verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. Lifethreatening Lung Inflammation can occur. Tell your doctor about any new or worsening trouble breathing, cough, or chest pain. Serious Liver Problems can happen. Symptoms include fatigue, appetite loss, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising. Blood clots that can lead to death have occurred. Tell your doctor if you have pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain and rapid breathing or heart rate or if you are nursing, pregnant, or plan to be. Im making future memories every day with verzenio. Ask your doctor about everyday verzenio. 5 all you can eat pancakes are back to celebrate ihops 65th anniversary. So come on in. Even if its your birthday, too. Available for a limited time only at ihop. Download the app and start earning free food. upbeat music we are now in the era of the modern day superhero. The face of the genre continues to change with black people coming into these roles, this new power, rising to save the day. Im a black man carrying the stars and stripes. Every time i pick this thing up, i know there are millions of people out there who are gonna hate me for it. Falcon and the Winter Soldier explores the evolution of sam wilson as he takes on the mantle of being the falcon, and ultimately evolves into becoming Captain America. First time that you see Anthony Mackie put on the Captain America uniform, theres something so special about it because it is saying i am america. In the marvel comic book, sam wilson has a moment where he becomes Captain America. And a lot of fans never thought they would ever see that storyline on television. It makes a statement about black superheroes but it also makes a statement about the contributions that black people have made to america. I start thinking about all of the little black girls and black boys who are gonna now be at home believing and seeing and you know, tearing up furniture and jumping off stuff that they shouldnt because they saw Anthony Mackie as Captain America. They erased me. My history. But theyve been doin that for 500 years. Those of us whove been left out of the history books, who built the country, like, all of that was in that moment to me. The red tails, the famous 332 fight for this country only to come home to find crosses burned on their lawn. Carl lumbly is playing this character, isaiah bradley, who really represents Anthony Mackies history. And Anthony Mackies character is the dream. Its like the saying, you know, you are your ancestors wildest dream. Thats who Anthony Mackie is in that moment. And i find it so powerful. Everybody ready . [crew] yes, captain. Star trek is one of the most popular franchises in Science Fiction history. And now we have a black woman at the helm of the series which is the ultimate dream for a lot of fans. Lets fly. Sonequa martingreen currently stars as captain michael burnham. And that makes her the First Black Female Captain to lead a television show. It would be logical for you to take into account my success rate during our seven years together and execute my plan without further challenge before were dragged into war. This is a show where the smartest person in the room is very clearly this black woman. And nobody will listen to her. I am not delusional, this has nothing to do with a concussion. The people are struggling with her existence here, even though shes the very thing thats going to save them. When i was cast as the lead of Star Trek Discovery as michael burnham, at that time, i was a first officer. So i was equal parts surprised and not surprised because there was a ton of backlash and negativity about me being a black woman. I did not expect it from people who claimed to dearly love the franchise, because it is embedded in the heart of the franchise itself, diversity and inclusivity. Its so incredibly Ground Breaking and also bizarre that it took up until now for there to be the first lead role of a black woman in scifi with Sonequa Martingreen taking up that position on Star Trek Discovery. I am not the person who celebrates the first black anything in 2021. I be like why did it take so long . Why . Ultimately, she deserves her flowers, dont get me wrong, but im always just irritated by the fact that were still having to break ground in spaces where we were always valid. When i think about the future of scifi, i think about a lot of these amazing black scifi writers who tell stories in a different way about the future how its really gonna change the narrative of what the future could look like. Its really exciting to see these celebrated books that are part of the Afrofuturist Canon are being adapted into screens big and small. Octavia butlers books are in the canon of scifi. People all over the world are studying her works and now theyre being adapted into television. Theyve been adapted into Graphic Novels and now were gonna see them in tv. A lot of my early writing had to do with my own feelings of powerlessness. There are no real walls around Science Fiction. We can build them, but theyre not there naturally. She is most celebrated because she deals with these really tough, nuanced questions around our future. People have looked to her to think about how you create new futures. N. K. Jemisin is adapting her own book The Inheritance Trilogy into television. Im drawing on the Human History of structural oppression as well as my feelings about this moment in American History. I look to Science Fiction and fantasy as the aspirational drive of the zeitgeist. We creators are the engineers of possibility. I love that its not just that were seeing these black stories, but were seeing these black stories told by black people. That is the key to this sort of magic of it all. I think one of the biggest things in the sort of evolution of black actors in the scifi genre is that black actors are now front and center. Were just authentically at the middle of stories just like anyone else. Were in all of these places where folks may be thinking of a future, maybe thinking of the past, seeing us saving the day, but also living in a world that has extra powers in it, more myth around it. It allows us to dream, to continue to dream, and to know that were a part of the dream. uplifting music there is no end to this journey, for our capacity for growth is infinite. Dick solomon i suppose to the outsider we might seem a little unorthodox but what does this outsider know anyway . Who is he to judge us . John lithgow the whole notion of the outsider. I mean, its a strand that goes through most sitcoms, i think