Malena Amusa

The Black People Show

I stumbled across this video on YouTube from In Living Color, the sketch comedy and social commentary show popular in the 1990s.

It’s worth watching the full six minutes. David Alan Grier is an excellent farce of himself, the egotistical host of the Black People Show who needs constant affirmation in an industry that doesn’t support positive roles for Black men.

The video is especially eerie because In Living Color is syndicated on Black Entertainment Television and BET ran its icon on the bottom corner. When the the female actor ironically says: “gone are the days when all we could play were maids and hookers,” I couldn’t help but think, damn, this skit is not only genius, it’s unfortunately still relevant today.

Posted at 9:23 AM, Jul 12, 2007 in Media Analysis | Permalink | View Comments