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One of the best things people who have power can do is to allow black people to provide value outside of doing the work of unpacking racism for you or being a "diverse voice" There are very few artists who don't have that as a part of their job -- even if it isn't mentioned.
Most black accomplished filmmakers had to engage with their oppression to get through the door in some way. There are exceptions but not a lot. A lot of creatives get traction on this platform by giving takes on race. That's fine but it perpetuates the black pain system.
A lot of creatives would love to talk about something else but it's hard to get traction around other topics. The way black people are allowed to communicate with the world is very narrow and often times we only gain power because we've made someone feel guilty. It sucks.
Especially considering the fact that black culture is taken by everyone as their own but it often doesn't benefit the very people who create it but that's a whole other story.
So if you are reading this and you know you hold some type of power or influence in your industry and feel helpless, that's a great place to start. The threat of death is always there but creating more opportunities for black people to flourish outside of that threat is huge.
It's not about TEACHING YOU (use google) it's about adding value to the lives of black people. This is how it always goes wrong. Black people get power within a system but their job is still about serving the needs of white people which....do we know what that sounds like?
You can tell when a black person was hired on a show to give a "woke" perspective. It's unfair. We are people who want to explore emotions and tell stories like anyone else. We have wild tinder stories! We get depression! We want to explore weird shit! Let us live!
