The Entertainment Industry is Finally Considering Black People. Am I Supposed to Be Excited?

As a Black man who worked in the entertainment industry for over 10 years, I don’t know how I am supposed to feel right now. Should I celebrate or be upset about the new shift the industry is now intentionally pursuing towards the Black community? My experience navigating this conversation before the Black Lives Matter movement has me feeling conflicted.

It’s about time we see major networks and film companies committing to produce more content from creators who look like me. It took the BLM movement and heightened conversations around race to get here; but, I’ve been having the diversity fight since college, praising the importance in every sector of our lives. As a former President of Omega Phi Kappa at Sacred Heart University, the motto of “unity and diversity lead to knowledge” bleeds in my heart. I welcomed the fight in college and proudly made tremendous impact; however, I was na?ve to think that I would be able to replicate those changes in my professional life.

I justify my level of expectation back then. I grew up in the age when Hip Hop was the biggest genre of music; LeBron James, Michael Strahan and Dave Chappelle were viewed as American icons. I thought if the Black culture is being revered so much, why couldn’t we translate that into the content we produce? The numbers alone, $1.1 trillion in buying power, was enough of a case to prioritize and invest in Black content. I embarked on what seemed to be an endless, uphill, journey. For 5 years, I worked for a major film studio where everybody from our division had the word “urban” in their job titles. I always had a problem with that word but I kept my eyes on the prize. Our business model was to acquire and produce African American content for a limited budget and distribute them for twice the initial cost. We operated in such a surgical manner that having one project in the red was not an option. We were under served and undervalued despite our success. The constant fight to prove myself through my ideas, the never-ending request for more resources and providing consistent education on the importance of diversity on the screen felt like pushing a boulder up Mount Everest. I entered this industry with a deep desire to impact change and get decision makers to buy into the reality that African American content was lucrative and that there was a need in the market. “Swinging for the fence” is the opportunity to dream but when you see yourself as the adopted child, “batting for singles” is the mindset that you develop to survive on by being invisible. However, you can’t be too invisible because when it’s time to make budget cuts, the “urban” division is always the first impacted, regardless of the success it achieved. Ultimately, our division was dissolved because, “the market for African American content wasn’t strong enough.” It was complete BS. Like Jay Z said, “men lie, women lie, but numbers never lie."

The numbers alone, $1.1 trillion in buying power, was enough of a case to prioritize and invest in Black content.

This defeat felt personal to me. It wasn’t just about the elimination of my job, rejection of producing and providing African American content or the business value behind it. It was the feelings of being personally undervalued and dismissed as a Black man fighting the good fight through entertainment. The belittling of my ideas and the common hue of all the executives that I encountered in the industry pushed me to develop self-doubt and lack of self-confidence that I ended up carrying throughout my career. I never realized how much this affected me until I began communicating my frustrations to my friends. I realized how many job interviews and meetings I had where I minimized my accomplishments in order to fit in resulting in accepting a role in another major media company where everyone, including myself, knew I was overqualified. I thought these sentiments were exclusive to my situation but I learned that many people who look like me suffered with these same challenges. Why can’t we speak up or take certain risks to maximize our potential? Perhaps it’s because we know the communicating our truths and ideas and using data to back up our recommendations may still result in job loss.

The constant fight to prove myself through my ideas, the never-ending request for more resources and providing consistent education on the importance of diversity on the screen felt like pushing a boulder up Mount Everest.

As I continued my career in entertainment, the disappointment was consistent. I went on to pitch ideas about Doug Williams, The Greenwood Massacre, Colin Kaepernick, Sports Activism and Black Women CEOs. They were all received well on the surface but never got the “green light.” It was frustrating to see the decision makers behind these projects who were targeting my community never looked like me. How am I supposed to feel when I see projects that I fought hard for to be produced get denied then but are now being prioritized with such urgency by the same companies that I worked for? My intent isn’t to question the sincerity but I do question the motive. I know many people are struggling with how to feel in this new environment of finally being seen and heard. While I share these sentiments, I am hopeful that this is an opportunity to listen to each other and educate ourselves about people who don’t look like us.

It was frustrating to see the decision makers behind these projects who were targeting my community never looked like me.

Diversity brings out the best out of us and develops a level of compassion and empathy that we all need in the work force. I will always be in this fight to empower the under-served communities no matter what industry I work in. While I’m glad conversations across various industries, including entertainment, are increasing to consider the Black community, I can’t erase the memories of constant defeat and the exhausting fight for my people to be acknowledged. If organizations and industries are looking to correct their inadequacies, it has to start with authentic conversations and accountability.