Melissa Eugene
Staff Writer
Growing up in the 2000s, believe it or not, there weren’t that many shows dedicated to the livelihood of black people, especially the high-end side of being black. There were the typical movies and some TV shows of the same story: an African American comes from a poor childhood and tries their best to “make it out” and to be significant, to do or be something that the world hasn’t seen yet, and to be the inspiration.
I think I was in my early teens when Black-ish came out, and when it did, it was extraordinary and better than that, there was for once a different story being told about what it was to be black and able. Black-ish was an American sitcom created by Kenya Barris that aired from 2014 to 2022 on ABC. The show centers around Andre Johnson, a successful Black advertising executive, with his upper-middle-class family. Black-ish showed a Black family with both parents very much involved in their kids’ lives. And most of all, the show was funny; there were real-world issues implemented into the show of being black, but it was funny, it was captivating, and it was a good show.
Diane Johnson was the character Marsai Martin played in Black-ish, and where I originally knew her from. Black-ish was a successful show, but after any successful show comes to an end, there’s not that much space to grow beyond that show, where you’re acting career is known from, just that one tiny success that you were a part of. Take Ariana Grande, for example. Everyone and anyone, as I would hope, knows her from Victorious, where she played Cat, that’s where it all started for her as well. So, for Martin, she played a relatively small role in Black-ish; she played a child, and Black-ish wasn’t about her, it was about her dad.
However, just a few years afterwards, Martin went big. Since the conclusion of Black-ish, she has been part of many projects like Little in 2019, Spirit Untamed in 2021 and Paw Patrol: The Movie in 2021. Martin has also been featured in Fantasy Football 2022, and she has also collaborated with GlassesUSA.com to create an eyewear collection. And as of now, Martin has an action thriller called G20 coming out on Amazon Prime. And I personally think her beauty was most captivating to me. Now, I didn’t name everything she has done that made an impact since Black-ish, but my girl has done well for a 20-year-old and being a part of a show that wasn’t the norm.
I think we can all take something from this short story of Martin, and that’s to be different, which sounds cliche, but I mean it. I think now more than ever people are afraid to be different because it won’t get that many likes or what if people think I’m weird and all this backlash that people give themselves because not many people want to be different. I was shopping today, and I overheard this woman talk about now that it’s spring, she gets to wear these types of colors and this type of clothing because those things are “in now” and they’re trendy. I’ve seen these videos on TikTok of people saying “can we normalize this, that and the third now,” and I look at those people and I look at what that woman said and it drives me crazy at times because my thoughts are can you just be yourself, without trying to get the world to accept you every five seconds. Just wear the color no matter what season we’re in, do what you want to do without making a video trying to get people to normalize it. Martin, she isn’t Ariana Grande, but she came from the same storyline as her; she was a part of a show that was popular than proceeded to make a name for herself beyond that one show. They both came from similar territory but they both came out different and successful in their own way.
Photo courtesy of Spokenblackgirl.com
