The Influence of Television

Mara Brock Akil

Moesha, Girlfriends, The Game, Being Mary Jane, Love is… these shows are some of the shows that Black women watched and shaped us into the people we are today. Today we have a lot of shows on TV and many television options with Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and different apps. 20 years ago, we didn’t have all these options and the internet wasn’t giving us daily access into people’s lives. We had a limited view of what we can see. Television is very influential and what you watch can expose you to different ideas that ultimately shape your beliefs and who you become.

As a child television had a big impact on my decisions. I grew up in a very bad neighborhood, so I chose not to go outside much. I stayed in the house and watched a lot of tv. Neither of my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins or siblings have a college degree or ever spoke about college. From the time I was a little girl I always wanted to go to college, and I knew that I would one day get a college degree. I found out about college from my favorite childhood show Moesha. Moesha went to college and it intrigued me to know more about college and from a child I always knew I would go. Mara Brock Akil. spent years as a writer on Moesha and had influence in the story being told to young black girls watching such as myself.

Later, Mara Brock Akil developed a show called Girlfriends. Girlfriends ran on television for almost a decade. The show was very popular and young women to older women tuned in. Black women and friendship is complicated. It’s hard for some women to actually befriend and stay friends with other women. Girlfriends showed four different realistic stories dealing with friendship, career, love and identity. Every woman had a different story and a different struggle, but every woman was relatable and realistic. As an adult now I still aspire to have the kind of friendship I saw in girlfriends. Not only do I want to have those friendships I want to be the kind of friend I saw those characters be to each other. I want to be a very giving, fun loving, supportive friend and have a small group of girls with different interest that I support and that also support me. I want us to get together often to brunch, shop and be a voice of reason for each other.

From Girlfriends Mara Brock Akil created the spin off show The Game. I loved the Game and when it was running it was my favorite show. The show centered around women dealing with men in professional sports. One Character on the show was a sports agent and she was a shark. Another character on the show worked with athletes and branding them. I was so inspired by this show and the women on it being in powerful positions in a male dominated field. I actually decided to get my Masters in Sports Management and after graduating I moved to Orlando, Florida and worked for 2 seasons with the Orlando Magic basketball team (talk about television and influence). When you don’t have many role models to look up to. You take the ones you see on Television.

Now we have several women creating shows for black women. Mara Brock Akil was one of the first and her shows have always been amazing. She is a trailblazer and has silently paved the way for some of the shows we are privileged to have today. I respect her body of work she is an amazing creator and I would always appreciate what she did for the culture and also the way she opened my eyes to the many opportunities available to me as a black woman.