‘Black-ish’ partners with My Black is Beautiful for a special episode about ‘the talk’

Every Black parent dreads this painful conversation

Black-ish will feature "the talk" on tonight's episode

Jan 16, 2018
Black-ish Tracee Ellis Ross Anthony Anderson thegrio.com
Actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Tonight’s episode of black-ish will feature “the talk” that Black parents have been all too familiar with since well before the Black Lives Matter movement began. This is not the “make sure you use a condom” talk, but rather the “do everything you can not to be killed by the police” talk.

This far too common conversation is an absurd, painful, and mind-boggling result of the systemic racism infused in this country’s DNA. Black and brown bodies have a different relationship with the police (and self-proclaimed neighborhood watches) than their white counterparts.

According to the Washington Post’s database of fatal police shootings, 987 people were killed by police in 2017. Of those 987 people, 22 percent were Black men, even though Black men comprise just 6 percent of the overall U.S. population. It’s a startling statistic that adds yet another layer of worry for parents every time their kids leave the house.

Black-ish creators partnered with P&G’s My Black is Beautiful campaign to produce this episode, which airs tonight at 9 pm EST. The critically acclaimed ABC show snagged five NAACP Image Awards last night, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for Tracee Ellis Ross and Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series to the show’s host, Anthony Anderson. 

Even though black-ish is a comedy, the writers often use the show to talk about important issues such as slavery and workplace discrimination.

Have you had “the talk” with your kids yet?

(Source: Washington Post fatal police shootings database.)

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