ABC’s “black-ish” Puts Voting in Perspective

The main plot of the first episode Election Special Part 1 of the special had to do with Junior Marcus Scribner now finally of age to vote dealing with his first presidential election Being the idealist heamp8217s always been he found himself distraught at the revelation that heamp8217s been amp8220purged from the voter rollsamp8221 meaning heamp8217s been unregistered for some reason which I honestly didnamp8217t even realize was a thing that could happen just to have to reregister in order to once again be able to cast a ballot He asked his family and did some research looking for answers and one of the first most powerful pieces of real information discovered via a clip from a fictional yet factual documentary is delivered by Michael Eric Dyson a Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University author radio host and preacherThe clip narrated by Dyson states that amp8220Three quarters of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence owned slaves Not only were the vast majority of them slave owners but the founding fathers imposed limits on voting that not only excluded Black people but all women and nonproperty holders as well When this nation elected its first president only six percent of the adult population was eligible to vote That means that amp8216We the peopleamp8217 has never meant amp8216all the peopleamp8217amp8221The episode continued to bring the facts via creative information dissemination vehicles like a faux game show called Democracy in Jeopardy hosted by Dre Anthony Anderson and took on such huge flaws as the mere existence of the Electoral College how amp8220One person one voteamp8221 isnamp8217t an actual thing and how US Territories like Guam and Puerto Rico get all the glory of paying taxes to the US Government without the hassle of actually being able to cast any votes in the first place There was also a biting bit in which Rainbow Johnson Tracee Ellis Ross personified the Voting Rights Act of 1965 looking at what the Act has meant from said year right up until present day In the beginning the act was young upbeat and optimistic but today it is beaten down by subsequent legislation used to suppress its power reversing all the good work it had done to keep voting fair over the yearsAll of this educational stuff is broken up periodically with carefully blocked appearances from the regulars on the series six feet apart and all that and the usual brand of humor that weamp8217ve come to expect from the blackish team making the pill of having to learn something while watching TV much easier to swallowThis brings us to Election Special Part 2 an animated episode This one came right out of the gate fully cartooned The visual aesthetic of the animation perfectly encompassed the showamp8217s style once again helping it achieve its crucial balance of lighthearted comedy and real talk The long and short of this one was that Dreamp8217s boss Mr Stevens Peter Mackenzie decided that since heamp8217s got some money and heamp8217s kind of bored heamp8217ll run for Congress much to Dreamp8217s dismay As explained in the cold openamp8217s voiceover Dre believes that America has proven itself to be a place where one could be born a peanut farmer but still become the actual President if they had what it takes but all this move by Stevens is proving is that amp8220what it takesamp8221 apparently is being rich and white When they ask Stevens how he got on the ballet and he literally replied amp8220Iamp8217m a rich white man I askedamp8221I truly dug the way that second episode hit The animation allowed for visuals that wouldamp8217ve been much different had they been live action even from a financial standpoint The scene where Dre has a fullon nightmare about Stevens winning which involved stage style lighting and dramatic visuals or the sequence where Dre ended up on an episode of Showtimeamp8217s Desus ampamp Mero which preCOVID would have definitely taken place in their actual studio both wouldamp8217ve cost a lot more if done in live action Not needing wardrobe and makeup alone probably saved them a fortuneI also thought it was dope how Zoey Johnson Yara Shahidi was brought back for the episode Well her voice was at least Sheamp8217s been busy of late starring in her spinoff grownish over on Freeform She even addressed it by accidentally calling Junior by her other brotheramp8217s name Jack Miles Brown When Junior corrected her she responded with amp8220Sorry kinda been on my own showamp8221The collective message of Parts 1 and 2 was that voting and oneamp8217s right to do so unhindered is of equal importance to all of us and it always has been If it werenamp8217t so important why would history depict a country that has actively marginalized any group that it felt threatened by for whatever reason These people had their rights as Americans diluted made difficult to exercise or outright deniedNow more than ever we are all battling in one way or another for what we truly believe in and as usual blackish continues that fight It remains a show that is and always will be for all the peopleClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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ABC’s “black-ish” Puts Voting in Perspective

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Ainsley Andrade

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ABC’s “black-ish” Puts Voting in Perspective

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Ainsley Andrade

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