BLACK PEOPLE ON TV!

The 'Black People On TV! posts were inspired by a new way of representing people of colour on screen and the loving attention paid to their image, and hair and makeup.

ONCE UPON A TIME

I was remembering a time when seeing black people on the TV was rare. The thought came to me as I watched a TV drama on the BBC that featured a mainly black cast. The characters were decent, they looked good aesthetically, they had a main part to play in the story, and as characters they helped to moved the story forwards. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories and the comedic references but it's true once upon a time there were not very many black people on TV.

If you have lived in a black or brown household over the last few decades, and a black or brown person came onto your TV screen, so rare it was - that you were compelled in that moment, to phone the other black or brown people in your family / friendship circle, and let them know that 'black people are the on tv!'

It wasn't a game of fun, it was like delivering the news. Your phone alert was direct, no frills, no conversation, just statement. You hurried your message to whomever it was on the other end, hanging up the phone as quick as you could - lest you missed the black or brown person appearing on the TV yourself. In my case I was instructed to phone my aunts house.

“Hello Auntie? Yes it's me. Mum says to tell you there are black people on TV! Yes on BBC 1- turn the TV over quick! GoodBye!”

IN THE OLD DAYS

This was before the internet, before mobile phones, before diversity . When telephones were attached to the wall and were rotary dial or button press and land-line only. To make a phone call on my parents phone when each individual call cost money - the message had to be important and it was.

When there is only one or two people of colour coming onto the TV screen in your home and the phone alert has been sent out like the Bat signal - it better be something good happening on that screen, but usually it was not. Truthfully back then as a culture we had high expectations of what we were about to see on screen, but then again we had low expectations of what we were about to see on screen.

The poor black person on screen had all our attention whether they were reading the news, in a comedy sketch, giving an interview, being arrested by the police on the news, acting in a drama, or on a game show. That person had all the cultures focus on them for a little while. Everything they said or did or how they looked was magnified. Was their hair combed, was the powder on the woman's face right, was her lipstick the right colour? Everything came under scrutiny - good and bad.

If the representation was good, you felt happy and proud. But if representation of the black person on screen was not good, for any number of reasons - you sighed and shook your head. But from your armchair at home, really, there wasn't anything you could do about it except complain.

FUELLING THE IMAGINATION

A black person on TV for me was not just about phoning my cousins house to report it as news. I didn't know it then, but it provided a reference point of inspiration for what was possible in my life. I didn't see the black people on TV as actors. It didn't compute to me they were acting in a film or a show. I was just being entertained. I didn't consider their acting as a profession. They were not a role model for me, they were a once in a blue moon, occurrence. A black actor / person on screen didn't and couldn't inspire me - my imagination into how they were living as a professional couldn't stretch that far. Not that I wanted to be an actor, I'm just saying that what was on my TV screen was imagination and not real life, not a person with a real job.

I had no understanding a black actor on my TV screen meant they had gone to acting school, had gone on auditions, had become employed and were making a living. That they had gone through the hair and makeup department on a production, to end up on my TV screen. Their appearance was a one time event, and I had to do my cultural duty and let the rest of the family know.

Credit: BBC TV

WHY REPRESENTATION MATTERS

Culturally, I didn't have creative role models in my orbit, to help grow my aspirations beyond my North London postcode. I didn't have the capacity to visualise being an actor. Or know there was such a thing as a film maker, writer, costumier, makeup artist. I didn't know these were real jobs. From my background and upbringing I was stuck within four pillars;

1. Go to school.

2. Get a government job.

3. Get married.

4. Retire with a pension.

Nowadays, when I work with young black actors, I ask them how they knew they wanted to be an actor. I ask them what their parents think about that decision, and I am always enlightened and educated by our conversations.

Despite all of my creative interests, I had no awareness of makeup as a career until I was 25, and someone had to tell me!

BLACK PEOPLE ON TV! Is not just a jokey tag line, It's a way of life. Like one black pebble dropping into water and watching the the outward ripples it makes.

MAYBE THIS IS WHY BLACK HAIR & MAKEUP IS A BIG DEAL

Years later now working in the hair and makeup department my feelings about seeing black people on TV is ever what it was. I am still fully surprised to see black actors. At the back of my mind maybe I am still that little girl watching TV from the couch focused on that one black actor. Maybe that is why I am passionate about making sure everything for them aesthetically is right. It's my job anyway to make sure everyone looks right. To make sure hair is neat and the face powder is the right shade, and that the lipstick suits.

When I started in this industry I didn't have the authority or influence to impact an actors look. The instinct is always there to make sure everyone looks their best, but it is a tricky line to walk when you are brand new.

Every actor is fussed about how they look, and who is or isn't able to provide hair and makeup services to make them look the part. As viewers we want to sit at home and not be distracted by lazy details. We want to stay in the action of what's happening on screen; and especially, if like me, you have lived a lifetime of waiting for that one person who looks like you to show up on screen.

Credit: Blue Ink Films & Annie Little

ANYWAY, TODAY...

The onscreen look is changing and that is a good thing. Who ever you are, where ever you live; for a few hours in any week you choose, on hundreds of TV channels around the world you can watch someone who looks like you, who has your hair, skin and colouring. Who might remind you of your family, your friends, your colleagues or your ancestors. Who is black or brown, male, female or gender neutral. Is biracial or is a person of colour. On Netflix, on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Amazon Prime, Disney and more.

If you wear your hair in braids, cainrows or locs. If your hair is kinky, curly or coiled, if it is loose, long and natural, if it is short, neat and tight. You get to see yourself looking as you do every day at work or in your ordinary / extraordinary life. Or you get to see a reimagined version of yourself from the past dressed in regal, elegant opulence and dancing the four square quadrille, it is a big deal.

Black people being on TV is a big deal!

I still receive the 'Black People on TV!'' alert. I am still being asked to tune in and change the channel, quick! When my brother sends me a 'Black people on TV! alert - it is a one word message - but I'll know what it means.

'Channel 4!'

I'd be interested to know what you think.