Mar 22, 2019 Company News
Entertainers, Industry Leaders Explain BET’s Impact On Black Culture
The Viacom network has served as a hub for African-American content and content entrepreneurs for nearly 40 years.
As the TV industry wrestles with ongoing diversity problems, BET continues to be the destination not only for viewers to see people of color on screen, but for those same underrepresented groups to find opportunity behind the camera.
For nearly 40 years, the network has served as a premier hub of African-American-centric programming, and its influence on Black culture runs deep. From hit shows like Being Mary Jane, to the BET Awards — one of the most watched award shows on cable television — to in-depth social issue documentaries like Finding Justice, the network transcends genres, generations, and global borders.
The story of BET is a story of evolution. The network started out airing a curated lineup of music videos and reruns of popular Black sitcoms in the early 1980s. It later launched BET News in 1988 along with other original programs and scripted series, later delving into reality television with hits like Baldwin Hills and Sunday Best, creating documentaries and experiential events that touch many aspects of Black life.
Cultural spaces for Black people were, and still are, necessary. Not only for viewers of all ages to see themselves, their stories, and their culture reflected in TV and movies, but to present and share authentic stories around the world. Here’s what some industry insiders and media observers have said about the network:
Director and producer Jesse Collins:
“You didn’t have to do a one-sheet on New Edition around BET,” explained producer of the network’s smash hit, The New Edition Story during a panel at Viacom’s Spark event. “You can pitch to BET without having to raise your voice, you can just say ‘do you want to do a New Edition story?’ and they get it, and every department gets it.”
On the BET Awards:
“The BET Awards are about more than hip-hop music and culture. They are a celebration of Black excellence that runs the gamut from music, film, and television to activism,” according to a Refinery29 piece on the show’s 2018 Humanitarian Award honorees. “The network — which was founded by a Black couple to celebrate Black culture; it’s the definition of ‘for us by us’ — carves out time each year to put some respect on the names of the people giving back and striving to be the change that they want to see in the world.”
Actor and screenwriter Lena Waithe:
“Most of the shows I do are being pushed through a white filter. The most exciting thing about BET and Paramount is that we speak the same language,” Waithe said in an interview with Deadline. “There is no, ‘Well can you have more joy in that moment of black pain’ – I don’t have to do that. That’s no shade at other partners I work for but the best thing is working with people who look like me and trust me. Black and honest as hell.”
On Rap City:
Rolling Stone published an oral history of BET’s Rap City, explaining, “Spanning the 19 years between 1989 and 2008, BET’s Rap City was the longest-running hip-hop TV show in history. It helped rap grow from urban shout to suburban obsession in the late Eighties, documented the initial reigns of Los Angeles and Atlanta in the Nineties and, most famously, helped make freestyling fashionable. At one point, in the pre-YouTube era, it was the only show streaming a constant flow of rap music videos.”
Director and writer dream hampton:
In an interview with Essence, dream hampton discussed her docuseries Finding Justice, explaining,“We really wanted to look at the things Black people struggle with every day even though it’s not sexy. “Mass incarceration is a problem that we cannot Kim K. away. Wanding students in LAUSD, charter schools, the dismantling of public education, as the Koch brothers have publicly fought to do. These are not sexy topics, but they are necessary ones.”
On Being Mary Jane:
“Each week, developments are revealed in both Mary Jane’s personal and professional lives, and each week, millions of viewers tune in to see how she’ll handle them,” wrote the Huffington Post's Lilly Workneh, following that explored themes of beauty, body image and black women. “This week’s episode turned things up a notch and not only touched on the complex lives of black women — as every episode does — but dug deep into issues that often go overlooked, neglected and, ultimately, disregarded by mainstream media and Hollywood. In doing so, it introduced the voices of real-life activists Michaela Angela Davis, India.Arie and Mark Anthony Neal, who joined the episode and engaged in an empowering panel discussion for the fictional news show led by Mary Jane herself.”
Rapper and producer Jermaine Dupri:
In an interview with Highsnobiety, Jermaine Dupri said, “I think the BET Awards is safe because you don’t get opportunity to see none of these artists anywhere else and, that’s becoming a good thing, as opposed to what it used to be. People can’t wait to see who’s on the BET Awards.”
On American Soul:
“Determined to share the authentic stories of Black cultural legends, executive producer Jesse Collins (The New Edition Story and The Bobby Brown Story) returns to BET with American Soul, a newly scripted drama series premiering Tuesday that allows viewers to hop back on the Train. But this time, viewers embark on a journey beyond musical performances and the Soul Train line," wrote Essence. “American Soul will remind those who knew and teach those who didn’t,” singer and series star Kelly Price said in the article. “We’re delving into people’s lives and the things that were happening in our world and how it affected everyone.”
