Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol. 4 Issue 1

neighborhoods in urban schools is
not a structural problem,” Bulman
said.
He said this is a dangerous message
because the films gloss over how
structural obstacles, like funding,
curriculum, politics, or job
opportunities, make achievement
difficult and instead make the issue
the students’ attitudes.
It’s also important to note that these
issues are prevalent in other forms
of media, too. In a recent report
from the Pew Research Center that
surveyed nearly 5,000 Black adults,
63% said “news about Black people is
more negative than news about other
groups.”
Bulman said Americans tend to
rely heavily on images to create
judgments about schools, so with
news media covering the education
system’s negative aspects, often
people have a negative implication of
the education, but it also depends on
proximity.
“When we have more direct
experience with the schools, I think
we’re more sympathetic to the folks
who run the schools and the students
who are in them and tend to view
them highly,” Bulman said. “I can’t
prove that movies have much of an
impact on our views, but I think I can
make a logical inference.”
The proximity and direct experience
are also important when creating
accurate media representation in film
and television, which is why many
have been taken by Quinta Brunson’s
“Abbott Elementary,” an ABC sitcom
following a group of teachers in a
Philadelphia public school.
Wiliams had been following Brunson
since Brunson was working at
BuzzFeed, so she was excited to
watch her show when it came out.
She said she likes the show because
of the representation and because
it’s loosely based on Brunson’s mom’s
experience as a Philadelphia public
school teacher.
Lande Yoosuf, a writer, producer,
director, and co-founder and
partnerships director of Black
Film Space, said she loves Abbott
Elementary, and she thinks it’s
blazing a trail for itself because it’s
a new honest depiction of education,
primarily from the teacher’s point of
view, that displays how audiences are
becoming savvier and won’t be spoonfed
the white savior trope anymore.
Many Black artists are working
to create this type of honest
representation. Yoosuf said she’s
interested in showcasing characters
“that have a lot of texture” in her
work because it allows the writer
to use media as an effective tool to
incite discussion.
However, she said it’s challenging to
appeal to stakeholders and convince
them that her art is worthy of a
widespread platform.
“There’s always a lot of trepidation
and skepticism on whether or not
people want to watch stuff made by
Black folks,” Yoosuf said.
She said before she started Black Film
Spaces, which nurtures independent
film and media creators, it was hard
sometimes to get pitches or be seen
and taken seriously.
“I would have to be like persistent
about certain things and push it
through a lot of the times with much
resistance,” Yoosuf said. “So that was
tough, but I do feel like now that I
run a nonprofit that supports Black
Filmmakers, that I’m in a better
position to affirm my stories and my
perspectives.”
Characters that diverge from set
archetypes and have texture have also
been one of the things that Williams
enjoys about Abbott Elementary. She
said she likes seeing the teachers
outside of school because it shows
that they are more than just teachers
and how progressive the education
system has become regarding
representation.
While representation in the
educational landscape has shifted,
Williams said things have also
changed within the media. She said
more shows are creating dynamic
Black characters who are more than
stereotypes, but there’s still more
work to be done.
“I definitely want to see more
minorities on screen. I want
minorities to be making things,”
Williams said. “I want to see them
make more things, get more things
that are in the mainstream because
that’s another thing there [are]
probably a ton of black people making
things, but they’re not considered
mainstream.”
Yoosuf said she’s ready to see more
representation in the media.
“Don’t just throw us a bone and then
take it away,” she said. “I think this is
just the beginning. I think there’s so
much that we can do when it comes to
our stories. So, I feel optimistic, but
I’m also cautiously optimistic.”
“I definitely want to see more
minorities on screen. I want
minorities to be making things.”
(ABC/Gilles Mingasson)
(ABC/Gilles Mingasson)
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