the culture of black girl tokenism

BY: SAMARA PEARLEY

Growing up, seeing black girls on television made me appreciate my skin color and inspired me to be an actress. But I never really paid close attention to the role of black girls on syndicated cable shows. Lately I've noticed that a lot of black roles in programs I watch are grounded in tokenism. Tokenism was established in the 1950s and was termed in the 1970s. In the late 60s and early 70s another form of token was established, “the token black”. According to Ruth  Thibodeau in her piece From Racism to Tokenism: The Changing Face Of Blacks in New Yorker Cartoons, “cartoons were mostly racially themed, and depicted black people in token roles where they are only there to create a sense of inclusion”. Though Ruth was speaking specifically about cartoons, this idea can be applied to any medium featuring only one black character. Today in an era of DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) we see the same things Thibodeau described in her writings. Tokenism strongly suggests the one black character among the many non black means a diverse voice or cast. To be fair, tokenism also includes members of the BIPOC and LGBTQIA community in predominantly white programs, but for the purpose of my scholarship, I'm focusing on black girls. Being a token means being different from the rest of the group in order to create some kind of diversity. Tokenism is a tactic, strategy used to get the optics of inclusion for marginalized people. Unwelcome Guest on the website Antimoon.com states: “An example of a token black would be a black person who is hired in a company, not because of his or her skills but because the company is by law to hire black people. It's not a derogatory term.”

 Monique Coleman would be a good example of tokenism. She is the only black-non mixed character in a predominantly white cast. Monique is well known for being on the hit Disney channel original movie (DCOM) High School Musical.  In an interview in December of 2022 with Christy Carlson Romano, Coleman states that “disney broke her heart”. Coleman went on to say how they left her out of the high school musical promo tour. She says their reasoning for leaving her and another cast member out was because “they didn't have enough room on the plane”. I find it suspicious how she was on the front cover of all the movies, one of the main characters, and her character Taylor was the smartest girl in school, but she wasn't on the tour? I'm sure Disney had enough resources to accommodate Monique. Coleman’s castmate is Corbin Bleu who is mixed. Do you find it suspicious that he got invited on the plane and Monique didn't? He gets to wear his natural hair but she doesn't? For example, in an article published by the Guardian, Coleman states that her hair stylist for high school musical did her hair very poorly in the front. And because of that she suggested wearing headbands so the stylists wouldn't have to cover her hair up with a hat everytime she was on screen.

Tokenism leads to stereotypes as well as mistreatment of black actors. It can also result in short lived programming of African American content. A result of mistreatment of blacks as a whole in this space is, black shows don't have the same life as non black shows, whether the show is good or bad. For example True Jackson v.p a show about a Black girl named True who was offered a job at mad style (a predominantly white fashion company) as the vice president of their teen apparel department. Keke Palmer is the main character of this show. This show got canceled after 2 seasons. Keke Palmer is in the process of trying to get theTtrue Jackson V.P. reboot done, while her counterparts iCarly and Zoey 101 have gotten, approved, and aired their reboots. Is this based on race? I can't say. However the track record of disparity between blacks and whites are very real. Recently Nickelodeon has been airing a show titled “That Girl Lay Lay” with not only 2 black girl leads but a predominantly black cast! There's no information on whether it's getting renewed or canceled, but I hope that this show can get a 3rd season. There's a lot of work to be done but this show signifies progress.

Gentrification

Written By: Dhane Pearley

Gentrification reflects how communities change. The question always is how good or bad it is for the community. Pictures provide different stories related to Gentrification. They include building improvements, more people, more businesses and different races living together. Gentrification can remove the past and appear to make a brighter future for a community. Gentrification can turn small affordable living neighborhoods into unaffordable expensive communities. There are many different perspectives on Gentrification, I will explain how my neighborhood in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn is changing and how the changes are affecting people:  how are these changes good and bad for Brooklyn?

Gentrification” is a social justice problem and the manifestation of inequality.” According to “There goes the Neighborhood “one argues that Gentrification is a polite way of saying the white people are moving in! Bed-Stuy is a much different place today from what it once was today.

Interview: Shawn Morrison

Topic: Historical Significance

In my interview with Shawn, she explained to me that she recently discovered that her block was changed into a historical community.  Shawn can no longer make major improvements to her home without prior approval. She only can make small changes like painting your house a different color.

After Shawn finished talking about historical communities, she started to tell me about some historical landmarks like the Weeksville Museum. When Shawn was younger the Weeksville Museum used to be houses that people lived in. Another landmark Shawn told me about was Laurel Magnolia Tree. The tree was located at 769 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn. She told that this Tree was a designated landmark in New York City. This tree was planted in 1885 by William Lenken and still is in good shape.   

interview: Justin Morrison

Topic: Economic Applications 

231 Macdonough street

ask: $2.35 - sold: $2.45

4.26% above ask 

Date :5/3/17

1 unit - 20 x 40 

321 Stuyvesant Ave 

Ask: $1.25m - sold: $ 1.37m

6.96% above ask

Date 12/1/17

1 unit - 19.5 x 45

These homes above were once affordable and actual were offered as apartments for rent. Justin explained to me that many landlords in Bed-Stuy use to rent rooms inexpensively.  The only downside was that you were required to share the bathroom and kitchen.

I think Gentrification has made my neighborhood look different from when I was younger. There are some nice restaurants, cool clothing shops and gyms.  My parents always complain about no parking and too many bikes in the street.  There are still some black families, but most have moved out.  When I was younger the neighborhood was nice too just different.  Less joggers and more music.  Gentrification in my community has changed the look of Bed-Stuy. I don’t think its good when people can no longer afford to live where they grew up at or enjoyed living at.  Gentrification has not been the best thing for Bed-Stuy.

Bibliography 

• Corcoran/ 2018 Homeowners Handbook Bedford-Stuyvesant-Crown Heights-Prospect Lefferts Garden The DIMA LYSIUS Team.

The Portrayal of Black in Cartoons and Anime

Written By: Lamont Pearley Jr. 

Some think Anime and the average cartoon are the same things. However, there is a difference. Cartoons are produced for humor, featuring caricatures created for satire, where Anime focuses on life issues, human emotions, sex, and violence. The first cartoon was released to the public on August 17, 1908. Black people in Cartoons and Anime have become more prevalent in recent years. Black cartoons appeared in the early 1970s with shows such as "Fat Albert and The Cosby kids" and "The Jackson 5ive," the two most popular. Blacks in Anime started becoming popular in the early 2000s with shows like The Boondocks and Afro Samurai, two of the most popular.  I enjoy Anime, black Anime, and Anime as a whole. I play games and watch Anime. However, I've found that the issue is how black people are drawn in Anime.

To keep up with the folk group and community of Anime, I watch YouTubers who cover, give opinions and different aspects of Anime. I've discovered that some people have a problem with the portrayal of black characters in Anime. Many people find the drawings of black people in Anime are stereotypical and racist, mainly because of the puffy lips and bulging eyes, which resemble blackface minstrels. Arthell and Darnell Isom, alongside animator Henry Thurlow, founded an animation studio located in Tokyo, Japan, called D'Art Shtajio, a 2-D animation studio. D'Art Shtajio is the first Black-owned anime production company in Japan. Having a Black Anime Production company is significant because they aim to create a good and more relatable portrayal of Black Anime characters. D'art Shtajio's work has been featured in music videos for The Weeknd, Jay-Z, Pharrell, and other artists in the black community. Black cartoon characters look different from anime characters mainly because of the art style, but they also experienced racism and derogatory treatment. Racism in cartoons started around the early 1900s, and unfortunately, some are still shown today. Cartoons like Heckle and Jeckle are prime examples of minstrelsy in cartoons.  

The early cartoon portrayal of African Americans perpetuated gross stereotypes used to degrade and prevent Black justice. Companies like Walt Disney and Warner Bros have also created many racist cartoons in the early 1900s through the mid-1960s. Nowadays, in cartoons and Anime, racism has dialed down, but the stereotypes are still prevalent. As funny as they may be, sometimes it goes too far, and people get upset. Voice actors have even quit their jobs because of this.

Furthermore, many "White" voice actors have stepped down, stating, "People of color should be voicing characters for people of color." Mike Henry, the voice actor for Cleveland in the Cleveland show, and Jenny Slate, the voice actor of Netflix's Big Mouth, are examples. Cartoons' primary function is to entertain with humor while pushing a message. Sometimes the statements are racist and stereotypical. Some believe it's just a cartoon, so there's no harm or foul, but the reality is it affects people in many different ways, and a lot of the time, it's a negative effect, which applies to Anime as well. There is progress, but we still have work to do.