Favorite Black History Moments in Black TV

I do not care about anyone else celebrating Black History Month because they don’t control what we do. We do not need their permission and never did. I wanted to take this first Black History Month post and dedicate it to some media that also reflects Black history. Finishing this post made me realize that even though I did not go through every tv show for episodes that we need more Black shows to highlight Black history and not just the same stories or false promises that diversity and consuming other people’s cultures will “solve” racism.

I also ranked every episode I’ve watched on a scale from 0 to 5 stars with 5 stars being the best.

Living Single

Season 2 Episode 13: A Hair Razing Experience - Kyle is up for a promotion and he finds out one thing that may be holding him back is his hair. Khadijah's long distance relationship is not going so well as she keeps missing Scooter's calls. ★★★★★

Season 3 Episode 21: A Raze in Harlem - Kyle wants to save a lounge club that his great uncle sang in. This episode is set in the prohibition era. ★★★★

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Season 1 Episode 17: The Ethnic Tip - Will proposes a black history class be instituted at Bel-Air Academy, and gets a surprise when Aunt Viv arrives to teach it. ★★★★

The Parkers

Season 2 Episode 13: Field of Dreams - Nikki studies her great uncle, who was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues, for a class project; Kim and Stevie try to live without products from Black inventors. ★★★★

Season 3 Episode 12: The Revolution- Professor Oglevee recalls the 1972 incident that led Santa Monica College to institute a Black Studies program. ★★★★

Girlfriends

Season 2 Episode 12: I have a Dream House - Joan struggles to find a way to change her law firm's policy about observing Martin Luther King's Birthday, while William and Yvonne argue when he surprises her by buying a new house without consulting her. ★★★

A Different World

Season 3 Episode 15: Success, Lies and Videotape - Mrs. Clair Huxtable, Denise's mother, comes to videotape and interview Hillman's students while Freddie finds part of the underground railroad. ★★★★

Season 5 Episode 11: Mammy Dearest - Whitley throws herself into an art exhibit in order to forget her break-up with Dwayne, and Kim is furious that Whitley wants to include stereotypical "Mammy" items in the exhibit. Whitley discovers an unpleasant truth about one of her ancestors. ★★★★

Season 6 Episodes 1-2: Honeymoon in LA Parts 1 and 2 - Whitley and Dwayne recall their honeymoon in Los Angeles during the riots after the Rodney King verdict. ★★★

That’s So Raven

Season 3 Episode 10: True Colors - Victor and Tanya really want Corey to understand African-American history; concurrently, Raven doesn't get hired at a clothing store just because she is African-American, so she sets out to expose the racist recruiter. ★★★★