SEE ALSO: Eddie Murphy Named Forbes Most Overpaid Actor

Watch Soledad talk about being “Black in America” from a personal perspective:

Soledad will live tweet the latest segment of the show here.

Continue discussing who is Black in America on BPNext.

SEE ALSO: Cory Booker On Food Stamp Challenge: I Have Hunger Pains

A place full of malnourished bellies? Nothing but poverty as far as the eye can see? That “country” where everybody walks around naked and fights lions with spears?

A new film from Africa.com seeks to eradicate these long-held perceptions about the second-largest continent in the world.

Watch the “Africa Straight Up” trailer:

“Africa Straight Up” offers viewers an exclusive look into Africa’s development that seldom gets mainstream attention. Advancements in education, business, technology, the arts and culture come to the forefront. The film backed by a soundtrack featuring African music stars such as Lira. M.I. Africa.com plans to release the full-feature film in a few weeks, but you can see the official trailer here.

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SEE ALSO: Identical Twins Give Birth One Hour Apart. And There Is One More Surprise!

Ashley Ray, a white woman, hears more people debating racial issues. “I know a lot of people who really thought we were OK as a nation, a culture, and now they understand that we’re not,” she says.

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Karl Douglass, a black man, sees stereotypes easing. “White people deal with me and my family differently,” he says.

Jose Lozano, who is Hispanic by way of Puerto Rico, believes prejudice is emerging from the shadows. “Now the racism is coming out,” he says.

In the afterglow of Barack Obama’s historic victory, most people in the United States believed that race relations would improve. Nearly four years later, has that dream come true? Americans have no shortage of thoughtful opinions, and no consensus.

As the nation moves toward the multiracial future heralded by this son of an African father and white mother, the events of Obama’s first term, and what people make of them, help trace the racial arc of his presidency.

Shortly before the 2008 election, 56 percent of Americans surveyed by the Gallup organization said that race relations would improve if Obama were elected. One day after his victory, 70 percent said race relations would improve and only 10 percent predicted they would get worse.

Just weeks after taking office, Obama said, “There was justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move us beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination.”

Then he joked, “But that lasted about a day.”

Or, rather, three months.

By July 2009, the black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested for yelling at a white police officer who questioned whether Gates had broken into his own home. Asked to comment, Obama said he didn’t know all the facts, but Gates was a personal friend and the officer had acted “stupidly.”

The uproar was immediate. Obama acknowledged afterward, “I could’ve calibrated those words differently.”

Ed Cattaneo, a retired computer training manager from Cape May, N.J., points to that episode as evidence of how Obama has hurt race relations.

“He’s made them terrible,” says Cattaneo, who is white. He also sees Obama as siding against white people through actions such as his Justice Department’s decision to drop voter intimidation charges against New Black Panthers and in a program to turn out the black vote called “African-Americans for Obama.”

Larry Sharkey, also white, draws different conclusions from the past four years.

“Attitudes are much better,” Sharkey says as he slices raw meat in a Philadelphia butcher shop. He remembers welcoming a black family that moved next door to him 20 years ago in Claymont, Del. A white neighbor advised him not to associate with the new arrivals, warning, “Your property values are going to go down.”

That kind of thing would never happen today, Sharkey says.

As Obama dealt with fallout from the Gates affair during the summer of 2009, the tea party coalesced out of opposition to Obama’s stimulus and health care proposals. The vast majority of tea partyers were white. A small number of them displayed racist signs or were connected to white supremacist groups, prompting the question: Are Obama’s opponents motivated by dislike of the president’s policies, his race – or both?

As that debate grew, Obama retreated to the race-neutral stance that has been a hallmark of his career. An October 2009 Gallup poll showed a large drop in racial optimism since the election, with 41 percent of respondents saying that race relations had improved under Obama. Thirty-five percent said there was no change and 22 percent said race relations were worse.

The president has discussed race in occasional speeches to groups such as the National Urban League or the National Council of La Raza, and in interviews with Hispanic and African-American media outlets. But he usually walks a careful line, allowing the nation to get used to the idea of a black president without doing things to make race seem a central aspect of his governance.

“There is a totally different psychological frame of reference that this country has never had,” says William Smith, executive director of the National Center for Race Amity at Wheelock College.

He cites evidence of progress from the mindset of children in his programs to new history curriculums in Deep South schools.

“To me, that’s a quantum leap,” Smith says.

Douglass, a real estate agent from Columbus, Ga., says white people seem less surprised to see him with his wife and daughter in places such as an art museum or a foreign language school.

“I think white people deal with me and my family differently since an African-American man is leader of the free world and a nuclear black family lives in the White House,” he says.

But Steven Chen, an Asian-American graduate student in Philadelphia, points to racial rhetoric he has heard directed toward Obama, in person and online, as proof that race relations have deteriorated.

He also has observed a more visible sign of division: fewer Obama T-shirts.

“When he was elected, it was an American thing. People of all races wore them,” says Chen. “Today it’s a distinctly black phenomenon.”

Ray, a graduate school administrator from Chicago, is uncertain whether race relations have remained the same or gotten worse.

It’s good that people are talking about race more, she says, “but I know quite a few people who are sick of those discussions and blame him for all of it.”

In the summer of 2010, race and politics collided again when Arizona Republicans passed an immigration law that critics said would lead to racial profiling of Hispanics.

Lozano, the police sergeant, remembers that when Obama visited Arizona and met with the governor, who supported the law, she wagged an angry finger in the president’s face.

“That was ugly, I’ve never seen anything like that,” says Lozano, who also is vice president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers. “There’s no way that would have ever happened to a white president.”

By the fall of 2010, Republicans had triumphed in the midterm elections and made history by electing Hispanic and Indian-American governors in New Mexico, South Carolina, and Nevada. Two black Republicans also went to Congress, from South Carolina and Florida.

Less than a year later, an August 2011 Gallup poll showed a further decline in racial optimism: 35 percent said race relations had improved due to Obama’s election, 41 percent said no change, and 23 percent said things were worse.

Around this time, some African-American lawmakers and pundits openly complained about the president’s refusal to specifically target any programs at high black unemployment. An interviewer from Black Entertainment Television asked Obama why not.

“That’s not how America works,” Obama replied.

Then came this February’s killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, whose father is white and mother is from Peru. Authorities initially declined to charge Zimmerman with a crime, causing a polarizing uproar.

This time, when asked about the case, Obama delivered a carefully calibrated message. He said all the facts were not known, the legal system should take its course – and that “if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.”

The comment was factual, but it still strikes Cattaneo as a coded message to black people that Obama is on their side. “A lot of people I talk to can’t understand why a man who’s half-white and half-black is so anti-white.”

This April, in a poll by the National Journal and the University of Phoenix, 33 percent felt race relations were getting better, 23 percent said they were getting worse, and 42 percent said they were staying about the same.

So where are we now?

Four years after Obama smashed the nation’s highest racial barrier, and less than four months before America will decide whether he deserves a second term, the nation is uncertain about the meaning of a black president.

Recently, Obama was asked in a Rolling Stone magazine interview if race relations were any different than when he took office.

“I never bought into the notion,” Obama said, “that by electing me, somehow we were entering into a postracial period.”

SEE ALSO: Is Romney A Closet Conservative?

In the expected class action lawsuit, Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson are claiming that in the show’s 10 years history all persons of color have been denied equal opportunity in the casting of the show.

The duo plans to hold a press conference Wednesday to further discuss the lawsuit which will go after ABC television, Bachelor executive producer Mike Fleiss, and the show’s production companies Warner Horizon television, Next Entertainment, and NZK Productions.

A statement regarding the lawsuit said:

“Over a combined total of 23 seasons, neither show has ever had a Bachelor or Bachelorette of color.”

Michael Fleiss, the executive producer of the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” franchises, was asked by Entertainment Weekly last year if the shows would ever feature someone who wasn’t white.

At that time he replied:

“I think Ashley (the 2011 Bachelorette) is 1/16th Cherokee Indian, but I cannot confirm. But that is my suspicion! We really tried, but sometimes we feel guilty of tokenism. Oh, we have to wedge African-American chicks in there! We always want to cast for ethnic diversity, it’s just that for whatever reason, they don’t come forward. I wish they would.”

The lawsuit represents uncharted territory, according to legal experts. Andrew H. Friedman of Helger & Friedman LLP told Entertainment Weekly that Claybrooks, Johnson and their attorneys may be better protected if they file the lawsuit in California rather than in Tennessee.

In California, the case could fall under an anti-discrimination law called the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

Friedman said:

“They would definitely have much more legal protection in California than they would in Tennessee… [the law could possibly cover] punitive damages if the decision to exclude African-Americans were made at a high enough level of the production company.”

Recently, Lamar Hurd is attempting to convince Bachelor producers that he’d be perfect for the show by initiating his own online campaign to get himself casted.

Perhaps we’ll see a black contestant on the show soon after all. If not, the lawsuit and the accompanying bad press may force Bachelor producers to really work harder to correct their diversity record and pay for their alleged oversight.

SEE ALSO:
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Brett Johnson is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based writer and the founder of the music and culture blog VeryArtistical.com.

Related: Top 9 Episodes of The Cosby Show

Bill Cosby’s television depiction of an upper-middle class African-American family living in Brooklyn, NY was eyed as an early favorite in the competition. The Cosby Show steadily made its way through the bracket with relative ease – dominating each round and challenger. The real challenge presented itself in the last round when it was time to go head to head with Martin – which dominated its own league throughout the competition as well. With 78% of voters choosing The Cosby Show, the final round became a piece of cake for the Huxtable clan.

Check out how the voting went down in each round.

Related: Black Presidents in the Movies
Related: Top 9 Must-See Black Films

RELATED: Top 9 must see Black films

10. The Harder They Come

This Jamaican movie had one of the best soundtracks of all time and featured excellent acting by star Jimmy Cliff and an great ensemble cast.

Should Have Won-Best Soundtrack, Best Song (Harder They Come), Best Foreign Language Film (It had subtitles)
Should Have Been Nominated Best Actor (Jimmy Cliff) Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay

9. Five Heartbeats

This epic movie which told the story of the evolution of a Temptations-like R&B group in the 60s and 70s had great music, great writing and great acting.

Should Have Won Best Soundtrack, Best Song, Best Director (Robert Townsend)
Should Have Been Nominated, Best Actor, (Leon) Best Supporting Actor, Michael Wright, Best Screenplay

8. Spook That Sat By The Door

Great movie that follows a Black CIA agent who learns their tactics to start his own revolution.

Should Have Won Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Lawrence Cook), Best Soundtrack (Herbie Hancock)

Should Have Been Nominated Best Picture

7. New Jack City

Great crime drama about the birth of crack and the violent gangs it spawned.

Should Have Won Best Supporting Actor (Chris Rock), Best Soundtrack

Should Have Been Nominated Best Actor (Wesley Snipes)

6. Love Jones

Great love story about two intelligent artistic African American 20-somethings.

Should Have Won, Best Actor(Larenz Tate), Best Actress(Nia Long), Best Picture, Best Soundtrack

Black Hollywood

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5. Cooley High

Great coming of age story on Chicago with great cast and music.

Should Have Won Best Song(It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday),

Should Have Been Nominated Best Actor Glynn Turman

4. Jungle Fever

Excellent movie about the stigmas around inter-racial dating, Black families and the crack epidemic.

Should Have Won Best Actor (Wesley Snipes), Best Supporting Actor (Sam Jackson) Best Supporting Actress (Lonette McKee), Best Sondtrack, Best Song (Stevie Wonder, Jungle Fever), Best Director(Spike Lee)

3. Love And Basketball

Great epic love story with a great cast and great writing.

Should Have Won, Best Actor(Omar Epps), Best Actress(Sanaa Lathan), Best Soundtrack

2. Mo’ Better Blues

Great story of love jazz, friendship and brotherhood.

Should Have Won Best Actor(Denzel Washington) Best Supporting Actor(Wesley Snipes), Best Score, Best Soundtrack, Best Song (Mo’ Better Blues)

1. Malcolm X

Great epic story of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X. History on film.

Should Have Won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor(Wesley Snipes), Best Actress, (Angela Basset) Best Director(Spike Lee)

Black Oscar Winners And Nominees

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THEO’S HOLIDAY
Who can forget Cliff as Harley Weedwax? When Theo thinks he has what it takes to make it in the real world, his whole family treats him to a rude awakening at the “Real World Apartments”.

I’M ‘IN’ WITH THE ‘IN’ CROWD
Every kid grows up having to learn their lessons the hard way, but few parents teach those lessons as creatively as Cliff and Claire Huxtable. When Vanessa — still not legally allowed to drink — comes home drunk after playing a drinking game with friends, Cliff and Claire take their youngest daughter Rudy and prank Vanessa by playing the same drinking game, only with a different kind of drink.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
To honor Cliff’s parents on their 49th wedding anniverary, the Huxtable clan channel their inner Ray Charles with a musical tribute, and Rudy steals the spotlight for everyone.

THE SHIRT STORY
When Denise attempts to make Theo a replica of an authentic Gordon Gartrell, she fails, but Theo unexpectedly succeeds, and we laughed the entire time.

DAY OF THE LOCUSTS
Sandra comes down with strep throat, and as a consequence, Claire steals Sandra’s babies so they won’t get sick. What ensues is all out hilarity as both Claire and Sandra’s mother-in-law are found out by Sandra.

A TOUCH OF WONDER
Denise crashes her car into Stevie Wonder’s limo and as a result gets serenaded by the singer himself. “I Just Called To Say (I Love You)” becomes an even bigger smash hit after this episode.

A FULL HOUSE
This episode is famous for one scene, Denise’s friend from Jamaica enjoying the music channel. “I SAID ‘AY MAN! AY MAN!’”

INDEPENDENCE DAY
To impress a female at school, Theo gets his ear pierced. Turns out, the ear gets infected, and Theo must reveal what he did to his dad, Cliff. Cliff attempts to get his son punished by his father, but instead, the tables are turned, and Cliff’s father — Theo’s grandfather — tells a story about how Cliff attempted to straighten his hair to impress Theo’s mother back when they were dating.

THE NIGHT OF THE WRETCHED
When Vanessa sneaks out, the wrath Claire unleashes is so furious, anyone who tuned in had to back away from their television. This episode was big fun, BIG FUN.

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Famous Black Comedians

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See Greatest Black Sitcom Bracket Challenge

Good Times was defeated by second seed A Different World. Even more surprising, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air suffered the same fate, leaving A Different World to pair of against The Cosby Show; and Martin to pair off against Living Single in our final four face-off.

25 Reasons We Love A Different World

Do you think Good Times deserved to go out that way? Well, voting is now open to determine the two finalists. Make sure your favorite sitcom makes it and vote now!

The Final Four:

The Cosby Show

A Different World

Martin

Living Single

Who will pair off in the finals? It’s up to you to decide! Vote Now!

Related: Top 9 Black Sitcom Theme Songs

1. The Wiz (1978)
Two names: Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. Need we say more? This black remake of the Wizard of Oz is one of those films every black person has seen not once, but more likely, twice.

2. The Color Purple (1985)
The Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation of Alice Walker’s unforgettable book about a young African-American’s coming of age is still one of the most difficult to movies to watch. But that’s exactly why it has become an essential film in the African-American film lexicon.

3.Love Jones (1997)
The black romantic comedy about a young black writer who falls in love with a young black photographer has a cult-like following amongst the black bourgeoisie. Love Jones still sets the standard for black rom-coms (and the soundtrack was major).

4.  Boyz N The Hood (1991)
In 1991, a young unknown film director named John Singleton took Hollywood by storm. How did he do it? He made a film about young black men growing up on the streets of Hollywood’s own backyard, in South Central, Los Angeles. Boyz In The Hood was such an iconic film, Singleton was nominated for a Best Director Academy Award, the first African-American to ever receive such an honor.

5. The Best Man (1999)
A beautiful cast of African-American actors — including Nia Long, Tamala Jones, Taye Diggs, and Morris Chestnut — were cast to star in this romantic comedy about a novelist’s book and the trouble it stirs amongst his close circle of friends who have reunited for a wedding.

6. Coming To America (1988)
From the opening scene of Eddie Murphy’s comedy about an African prince who moves to Queens to find a wife, the jokes don’t stop. Few films going on 25 years, especially comedies, maintain their funny. Coming To America, does the opposite and gets funnier with time.

7. Do The Right Thing (1989)
In recent years, Spike Lee’s major-studio film debut has gained notoriety for being the movie President Barack Obama went to see with the First Lady Michelle Obama on their first date. But before that little factoid was known to the world, Spike’s film about a day in the life of a group of residents living in Brooklyn told a story of race of which few outside of New York knew about.

8. A Raisin In The Sun (1962)
Lorraine Hansberry’s poignant piece of work about a family struggling to make ends meet went from the stage to the silver screen almost seamlessly. With a cast that boasts Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, the original A Raisin In The Sun is not only a classic black film, it’s a classic film in any category.

9. Cooley High (1975)
Released near the tail end of the Blaxploitation era, Cooley High became one of the most important films of the 1970′s. The story of a group of young black men living life to the limit only to see their lives shook by a series of unfortunate events is both funny and heart wrenching. Cooley High showed the good, the bad, and the ugly of young black men in America in the tumultuous 1970′s.

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Black Hollywood

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EDDIE MURPHY

Eddie Murphy may still be making at least one movie ever year, some of which are good, but a lot of his die-hard fans miss the Eddie Murphy of old. He was the one wearing the red leather suit in Delirious making jokes about men claiming the house when they’re drunk and memorable impressions of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and James Brown. Or, for some fans, the Eddie Murphy in the leather purple jump suit from Raw. Whichever one you choose, no one can deny, before Murphy went all “Nutty Professor” on us, he was the biggest black stand-up comedian in the world.

RICHARD PRYOR

Before Murphy, there was Richard Pryor, the larger-than-life stand-up comedian who broke through the mainstream in a way few had before him. Pryor’s act was unapologetic, aggressive, and deeply steeped in black life. The man didn’t just know how to tell a joke, he knew how to tell a joke in areas of life where people hadn’t thought laughter existed. From drug addiction to his public demolishing of the N-word in his off-stage conversations, Pryor knew how to make others laugh at things he could barely smile about.

DICK GREGORY

Dick Gregory made a name for himself as the face of black comedy during the Civil Rights era. At a time when black comedy was and stand up comedy in general was still a somewhat cottage industry, Gregory came of age to an audience that was both black and white. His popularity was undeniable, just ask Hugh Hefner who hired Gregory to perform at the Chicago Playboy Club.

BILL COSBY

Before he became America’s dad in his sitcom series, The Cosby Show, Bill Cosby was one of the biggest stand-up comedians in the 60s and 70s. Unlike his peers like Pryor and Gregory, Cosby gained notoriety for keeping his stand-up acts clean and without curse words.

CHRIS ROCK

Arguably the best comedian performing stand-up today, Rock’s stand-up comedy is so smart, his jokes would not sound out of place in a college classroom. Rock rifts from the heart but most noticeably from his brain, where he comes up with some of his most well-known bits like his long tirade and explanation about the difference between “black people” and “niggers” and rich” and “wealthy”.

DAVE CHAPPELLE

Chapelle will go down in history as the man behind one of the greatest sketch comedy shows of all time, “Chappelle’s Show”. But prior to his show, Chappelle was one of the sharpest stand-up comedians working in the 90’s. His aw-shucks style on the microphone gave his routine a childlike innocence, but his jokes were strictly for grown folks who never could stop laughing.

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER

Before Cedric became the host of BET’s popular Comic View, and one of four comedians featured on the Kings of Comedy Tour, he was a funny man who sold insurance during the work week and told stand up jokes on the weekend. The grind paid off and now, Cedric The Entertainer has lived up to his stage name in venues around the world.

STEVE HARVEY

Harvey wears a lot of hats, but none of them would be worn without his first one: stand-up comedy. Unlike most comedians who pander to a younger audience, Harvey takes a different approach. Harvey laces his humor with bits of wisdom he learned back in his younger years, like the older uncle you love to hear talk at the family barbecue.

BERNIE MAC

The late great stand-up had a long career before coming into fame as a member of the Kings of Comedy tour back in 2000. After his performance — the raucous, prfoanity-laced finale — Mack went onto find success with his own sitcom on FOX and numerous roles in successful movies like the Ocean’s Eleven franchise.

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RED CARPET: Celebs Attend The 2012 BET Awards

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1.  The cliche but truly enjoyable “Brotha to the Night” performance.

2.   The introduction of spoken-word “culture” to the mainstream.
3.  Bill Bellamy drove a hearse.
4.  Nina’s photography skills were dope.
5.  They went to a stepper’s set.
6.  Marvin’s classic line, “I’m going to get some muthaf*ckin Toasted Oats. You tripping!”
7.  Darius dedicated his book to Nina.
8.  Savon’s wife called him “triflin.”
9. Sheila’s consummate mother-earth-tell-it-like-it-is-diva-ness.
10.  The house party scene where Vaughn brings his female “co-worker” and Wood brings Nina.
11.  Nina and Darius both feed their insecurities by dating other people which was both real and accurate.
12.  The soundtrack was epic.
13. Nia Long was “house-sitting” the dopest apartment ever.
14.  Nina’s got her dream job at Vibe magazine.

Check out the rest in our photo gallery.

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25 Reasons We Love “Love Jones”

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1) Flavor Flav from The Surreal Life and Flavor of Love

Flavor Flav’s place in history as hype-man in one of the most important groups in hip-hop history was already cemented, but now, it will forever be for something else. The success of the Flavor of Love franchise where Flavor gets to choose a girlfriend from a bevy of women was complete foolery, but for better or worse, no one will ever forget FLAVOR FLAV and that darn viking hat.

2) New York from “I Love New York”

So went Flavor Flav, so went New York. The loudest, most visible character on two seasons of Flavor of Love made such an impact, she was given her own spin-off, and just like its male counterpart, “I Love New York: was a ratings smash.

3) Kevin Powell from The Real World (Season 1)

Had it not been for Kevin Powell and his unapologetic militancy towards non-black people, “The Real World” would have been considerably less real. Though he is now a renowned author with political ambitions, to a generation of people raised on MTV programming, he is the protype for the black militant character we see in so many reality shows today.

4) Coral Smith from The Real World New York (Season 10) and Real World/Road Rules Challenge

The Bay Area native was an unapologetic, in your face, mean girl who took nothing from anyone. Beef with practically anyone who roomed with her or on the team with, Coral didn’t shy away from it. As she once famously quipped on an episode of Real World/Road Rules Challenge, “I don’t wrestle, I beat bitches down.” Sheesh. No wonder she won, the award for “Roomate You Love To Hate” at the “Real World Awards Bash.”

5) Omarosa Manigualt-Stallworth from “The Apprentice”, “Celebrity Apprentice”, and “The Ultimate Merger”

Most people hated her, but Donald Trump loved Omarosa and overtime, we felt the same way. Omarosa was such a notorious character on her debut appearance on The Apprentice, and became such a star from the show, she was invited back to be a part of Donald Trump’s spin-off Celebrity Appearance. And, for their last collaboration, Trump executive produced Omarosa’s matchmaking show, The Ultimate Merger.

6) Carla Hall from “Top Chef New York”

The quirky and confident, Carla Hall not only made some memorable dishes on her season of  “Top Chef”, she also made a memorable run. At first an underdog, Carla ended up one of the show’s three finalists, and though she ultimately did not win, she was brought back in “Top Chef’s” current fan favorite season.

7) Michael Knight, “Project Runway”

Though he ended up a runner-up on his season of the fashion-design competition show, Mychael Knight made a name for himself with his numerous showings throughout the season.

8) The Real Housewives of Atlanta, from “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”

Between Sheree Whitfield, “Nene” leakes, Kandi Burruss, Phaedra Parks, Cynthia Baily, DeShawn Snow, Lisa Wu-Hartwell and yes, even Kim (don’t be tardy for the party!), how could we choose just one character to highlight on this list. Each girl is her own reality television show, Bravo was just smart enough to get them all together.

9) Toccara Jones from, America’s Next Top Model

Toaccara Jones inclusion on a season of Tyra Banks competitive model show was a wake up call to the modeling industry. Even though she didn’t end up winning, Toccara’s mere presence on ANTM resonated with audiences long after she left the show catapulting her to mainstream modeling success.

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Black Television Shows

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Bill Cosby is a man of many “firsts.” Cosby was the first Black comedian to conquer white American audiences. He was the first African- American to take a starring role in a network television series in the 1960s, “I Spy”; and the first to star in and produce a #1 TV show in the 1980s, “The Cosby Show.” He became the first successful Black “pitchman” for American consumer products too, from Jell-O to Kodak to Coca-Cola. Bill Cosby both defined and defied what it meant to “cross over.” On the one hand, Cosby was undeniably the first Black celebrity to transcend race — he wasn’t America’s top Black TV star; he was America’s top TV star, period. On the other, Cosby’s mainstreaming was controversial. To some critics, Cosby’s refusal to “deal with racial issues” in his work was a dereliction of duty. But Cosby, even more than Oprah Winfrey, was the foremost archetype for the racially transcendent ascendance of Barack Obama, now the 44th President of the United States.

William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1937. As a student, Cosby was sub-par, but as a class cut-up, he was a star. Cosby became more serious about his studies after a sobering experience in the Navy, where he worked in the physical therapy wing of a hospital that treated servicemen injured during the Korean War. Cosby returned to Temple University to get a degree in physical education, supporting himself by tending bar at a Philadelphia club. It was here, at the Cellar, that Cosby’s offhand humor became a vocation.

In 1962, Cosby’s performances at the Gaslight Café in New York City attracted the attention of Carl Reiner, whose mentorship sent Cosby on a trajectory to the Holy Grail for American stand-up comedy, the “Tonight Show.” Cosby performed around the country and signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records. But his historic breakthrough came when he was tapped to co-star in “I Spy” with Robert Culp.

Even then, Cosby was dogged by suggestions that, perhaps, his on- screen character presented an opportunity to deal with issues of race. Cosby begged to differ, saying that his mere presence as a white man’s peer, without reference to race, had a transformative effect on the white American psyche.

In the 1970s, Cosby starred in successful films like “Uptown Saturday Night,” and forged his credentials as a children’s educator with his participation in PBS-show “The Electric Company” and his creation of the “Fat Albert” series. But Cosby truly became “America’s Dad” with the triumph of the “Cosby Show,” which ran for most of the 1980s. The fictional Huxtable family presented, again, the definition and defiance of crossover. The Huxtables never dealt with racism on their show. And yet, they were proudly Black, even Afrocenric at times. A reprise of the Cosby TV juggernaut in the 1990s was interrupted by the tragic murder of Cosby’s son, Ennis.

In the 21st Century, Cosby continues to be a controversial figure, especially among young Blacks of the hip-hop generation who take offense to his often pointed denouncements of today’s Black youth. But there can be no doubt that Cosby created a powerful American imprint with his work, and that before the Obamas could enter the White House, the Huxtables had to enter all of ours.

Click here to see video of Bill Cosby!

Click here to read about Black Fatherhood in the Age of Obama!

Explore the year 1988!

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Famous Black Comedians

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A woman who believes “luck is preparation meeting opportunity,” Oprah Gail Winfrey has continuously shattered gender and racial barriers in America. Winfrey is the most successful talk show host in American TV history — male or female, Black or white — and the first female African-American billionaire. As one of the most influential women in the world, Winfrey continues to be a beacon that transcends racial and social barriers, much like Barack Obama. In 2006, Winfrey endorsed Obama for president, her first public political stance ever. She accompanied the Obamas on the campaign trail. But perhaps her greatest contribution to the ascendance of Barack Obama is how she prepared America for him through her show, as an African-American who won the hearts of women from all walks of life.

Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi to unwed teenage parents, Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. Her parents sent her to live with her grandmother, where she learned to read by the age of three. Despite living in poverty, she excelled in school, later receiving a full-scholarship to Tennessee State University.

Winfrey’s career blossomed when she moved to Chicago in 1984 to host “AM Chicago,” a morning talk show at WLS-TV’s. It soon became the number one ranked talk show and was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” In 1988, she became the first African-American woman in the American entertainment industry to own her production company, Harpo Productions.

In addition to being a daytime TV pioneer, Winfrey is a generous philanthropist, often making significant contributions to those in need. She donated $10 million to help re-build the lives of Hurricane Katrina victims. Winfrey spent $40 million building the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. She personally selected all of the girls from low-income families to attend the boarding school.

Throughout her success, Winfrey has used her influence to bring about change on various platforms. In 2007, Winfrey held a fundraiser for Obama at her estate, and went on to rally in the early primary states: South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa.

Her show continues to attract an estimated 14 million viewers daily in the U.S. and millions more in 141 other countries throughout the world. Winfrey’s resilience continues to shine as she sets an example of excellence and perseverance. But most of all, she has become daily staple for women across America, women who saw in Oprah someone they trusted, someone who was in many ways just like them. In so doing, she lifted Obama to the presidency, both directly and symbolically.

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20 Richest African-Americans

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For anyone who has ever attended an HBCU (Historically Black College and/or University), they will tell you how true to life the title A Different World is. The show itself was a spot-on depiction of life on a college campus where the majority, if not all, the students are of color.

Beginning as a spin-off of the already popular sitcom The Cosby Show, A Different World was on air from 1987-1993 and inspired practically a whole generation of young college-bound African-American students to consider attending an HBCU themselves. That’s just one of the reasons we love A Different World, but we have 25 more:

1. Hilman College, a fictional HBCU in Virginia.

2. Kappa Lambda Nu

3. Scenes filmed at real-life HBCU’s, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University

4. The Peach Pit hang out area in A Different World was based on the Punch-Out hang out area at HBCU Howard University.

5. Aretha Franklin sang the show’s theme song.

6. The “Getaway” episodes, a two-part story where Dwayne and friends go to Devil’s Island, South Carolina for Spring Break, only to get their bags switched with the bags of drug dealers.

7. The “War and Peace” episode, guest-starring Blair Underwood who plays Dwayne’s childhood friend. Underwood’s character visits Dwayne to let him know he has been assigned to fight in the Persian Gulf, making this episode one of the first fictional sitcoms to deal with the reality of the real-life 1992 Persian Gulf War.

8. Tupac Shakur’s guest appearance as Piccolo, the ex-boyfriend of Lena played by Jada Pinkett.

9. The “It’s Greek To Me” episode where Ron and Dwayne attempt to pledge a fraternity.

10. The show was one of the first sitcoms to deal with real-life issues, such as HIV/AIDS in the African-American community in the “If I Should Die Before I Wake” episode.

11. When Terrell tapes a piece of paper with the words “Digit ho” on the back of Charmaine, the issue of sexual harassment — a hot topic at the time due to the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings — becomes the central issue in this episode’s plot.

12. Patti Labelle as Dwayne Wayne’s mother, Adele Wayne.

13. Sinbad as Walter Oakes

14. Denise Huxtable (played by Lisa Bonet) attended Hilman College.

15. Denise Huxtable’s mother, Claire Huxtable (played by Phylicia Rashad), who was most famous as the mother in The Cosby Show, visits her daughter frequently.

16. Dwayne Wayne joins Phi Betta Kappa.

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25 Reasons We Love “A Different World”

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The Cosby Show: 147
Gimme A Break: 7

Jamie Foxx : 121
Boondocks: 31

Roc: 33
Bernie Mac: 120

Moesha: 42
The Jeffersons: 112

Martin: 138
Thea: 2

What’s Happenin’ : 95
227: 43

Sister Sister: 23
Family Matters: 117

My Wife and Kids: 44
Sanford and Son: 95

Good Time: 118
One on One: 21

Webster: 9
Amen: 129

Hangin with Mr. Cooper: 58
Everybody Hates Chris: 81

Wayans Bros: 26
A Different World: 113

Fresh Prince: 130
Steve Harvey: 7

The Game: 107
Different strokes: 30

The Parkers: 14
Living Single: 122

Meet the Browns: 28
Girlfriends: 109

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Black Television Shows

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You got questions? These nine television hosts probably had them too, for a wide array of celebrities, politicians, athletes, and everyday people with amazing stories. Check out our list of the nine best black television talk show hosts. 1. Oprah Winfrey Initially The Oprah Winfrey Show was just another talk show when it debuted in 1986. But what made it stand out and rise above the rest was the show’s host. Now The Oprah Winfrey Show is only a small part of Oprah’s empire, and in 2011, will cease to exist in its current format. But not because the show is cancelled, Oprah is moving onto something bigger than her own show. She’s starting her own network, appropriately called OWN. 2. Arsenio Hall The Arsenio Hall Show revolutionized late night television. Just ask Bill Clinton who many say would have never won the 1992 presidential election had it not been for his surprise appearance on that show. 3.  Mo’Nique Unlike Arsenio, The Mo’Nique Show has a lot more competition in that late night slot. But the Oscar-winning comedienne has been able to hold her own against, pulling in her own unique audience on BET. While the rest of America was tuning into the drama of the late night talk show wars between Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno, plenty others tuned them out and tuned into Mo’Nique. 4. Tyra Banks A show about service as much as it was celebrity, through The Tyra Show, Tyra used her beauty and brains for good. What Oprah is to the stay-at-home moms of America, Tyra was to the teenagers of America who came home after school and needed a big sister to understand them. 5. Wendy Williams The popular radio DJ has successfully taken her format and gift of gossip to the small screen. Though Vh1 would air her radio show, The Wendy Williams Show has shown the queen of talk radio can also sit down on a couple of comfortable couch chairs and ask questions with the best of them. 6. Whoopi Goldberg The moderator of The View is fearless and isn’t afraid to call it like she sees it. And if someone else is calling it like she sees it on the show, she’s not afraid to retort or even walk away. 7. Montell Williams As a former Marine, and a victim to multiple scoliosis, Williams — an Emmy Award winning talk show host — used his show as a platform to bring awareness to various social issues in an aggressive style. 8. Star Jones The controversial panel member on The View during it’s early years was one of the sharpest and most entertaining women on the panel. 9. Tavis Smiley Many people were shocked when BET let Tavis Smiley’s contract as host of BET Tonight expire, but the charming media personality has landed on his feet. Now the host of his very own PBS show, Tavis Smiley, Smiley is doing what he does best, interviewing the people we’ve always wanted to talk to ourselves, asking them the questions we’ve always wanted to ask.

The show itself was unapologetically African-American. Sure it had the big name guests one would see on Johnny Carson or David Letterman — names like Robert Deniro and Warren Beatty — but it also had guests you were not going to see on any other channel. MC Hammer, 2Pac, Minister Louis Farrakhan all appeared on Arsenio’s show. They are just three of the 25 reasons we loved to tune in every night back when the dogpound was in full effect.

Here are the 25 Reasons We Love The Arsenio Hall Show. Make sure to check out the rest in our photo gallery below:

1. The Dogpound

2. WWE (then the WWF) wrestlers as guests, including Hulk Hogan, Ravishing Rick Rude, and the Ultimate Warrior.

3. A Tribe Called Quest brings out a then-unknown Busta Rhymes to perform “Scenario (Remix).”

4. “Things That Make You Go Hmmm….” was an ongoing bit in Hall’s opening monologues, and would eventually inspire a hit record by hip-hop/house group C+C Music Factory.

5. Burton Richardson’s introduction of the show’s host. ARSENIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HALL!

6. Suits with shoulder pads.

7. The Prince episode — a whole night was dedicated to performances by Prince himself.

8. The taping of the 1,000th episode at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring Madonna.

9. He was the only black late night television host at the time.

10. The show’s set, which unlike other late night show’s, did not include a desk.

11. The Reverend Jesse Jackson was a guest.

12. The Martin Luther King Jr. episode.

13. Hall squashes the beef with comedian/actress Roseanne Bar and then-husband Tom Arnold.

14. At its height, The Arsenio Hall Show was more popular than Late Night With David Letterman.

25 Reasons We Love The Arsenio Hall Show

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THE SIMPSONS
Homer and the rest of his animated family may not be white. They’re technically more like yellow, and they’re not even real people. But when the only black person in the show is a jazz saxophone player, it’s pretty clear “The Simpsons” show doesn’t feature anyone with a heavy dose of melanin. Still, we watched anyway because like a lot of black families, The Simpsons never seem to be without some drama.

FRIENDS
Rachel, Ross, Joey, Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe lived the life many people regardless of race want to have. Sitting in coffee shops all day, talking about the world, non-stop comedy, hooking-up every now and then. For whom is this not the life?

MARRIED WITH CHILDREN
Something about Peggy, Al, Bud, and Kelly made the Bundy’s relatable. The family was always hard on their luck, and even harder on each other, but let an outsider say anything about the Bundy’s, and the fight would be on. This is how family should be.

THE WONDER YEARS
For any young man coming of age in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Kevin was their hero. Kevin’s stories of the ups and downs of growing up (narrated by an older version of himself in an unforgettable voice) were just like ours, except with different specifics. Years later Chris Rock would adopt a similar storytelling approach to “The Wonder Years” with his own show “Everybody Hates Chris”.

SEX AND THE CITY
All four women — Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte — may have been white, but the city they lived in, the fashion they wore, their problems with men, those were all colorblind. “Sex And The City” wasn’t a show about white women; it was a show about women.

BOY MEETS WORLD
In the 90’s, “Boy Meets World” was to young men, what “Wonder Years” was to young men in the decade prior. Cory and his best friend Shawn were like every teenage boy trying to figure out their lives as they went through puberty, and though she was young, Topanga was one of the most beautiful girls on television.

PERFECT STRANGERS
What family doesn’t have a crazy distant cousin like Larry had in his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous? The story of how Larry and Balki learned to co-exist and become a family is one every person with a large family can relate to.

THREE’S COMPANY
Jack Tripper lives with Janet and Chrissy Snow (in later seasons Chrissy would be replaced) and brings home copious amounts of women he meets at the neighborhood hangout spot, The Regal Beagle. This was the life every man wanted to live and every woman who ever had a man for a roommate needed to deal with.

FULL HOUSE
Bill Cosby may have been America’s dad, but a close second had to be Danny Tanner. Played by comedian Bob Saget, Danny plays a widowed father of three daughters who recruits help from his best friend Joey and brother-in-law John Stamos. The Tanners were a family that was by no means neat or perfect, but the way they were imperfect were like most families, and no matter what you were going through, one of Danny’s lectures would surely have an answer.

Based on the seeding of the editorial team we didn’t see any upset loses although we were surprised to see the short-lived 90′s sitcom “Thea” beat out the super-popular Disney darling “That’s So Raven.”

This week we have our eye out for several close races that could result in upset wins. In the Cosby Show division we have are eye out on number three seeded The Bernie Mac Show against six seed, The Roc.

We’re also predicting an upset in the Fresh Prince division between The Game and Diff’rent Strokes who are ranked four and five respectively.

To see all of the Round 1 results click here. Voting for round two is open now!

Show: “The Cosby Show”
With the exception of seasons 6 and 7, the composers of the “The Cosby Show” theme song (Bill Cosby himself along with Stu Gardner) switched up the arrangement of their theme song, “Kiss Me” every season. Never accompanied by lyrics, this swinging number stayed true to Bill Cosby’s affinity for jazz music.

Show: “A Different World”
Though originally sung by Phoebe Snow, “A Different World”‘s bluesy opener really caught fire when Aretha Franklin took the reigns for the show’s next four seasons. In the show’s final season, the theme song remained, but was performed by Boyz II Men.

Show: “Family Matters”
For those who watched the classic early-90′s sitcom lineup, known as TGIF on ABC, the “Family Matters” theme song is easily one of the most memorable. “As Days Go By”, sung by the song’s composer Jesse Frederick was upbeat with easy-to-remember lyrics, of which we learned every word.

Show: “Living Single”
With one line — “in a 90′s kind of world/I’m glad I got my world girls” — a decade of young women finally had their theme music. While the soulful feel of “The Cosby Show” and “A Different World” definitely inspired the “Living Single” theme song, Queen Latifah’s aggressive rap and melodic hook were a welcome twist to the conventional theme song formula.

Show: “Sanford And Son”
When Quincy Jones composes your television show theme song, words aren’t necessary. The theme song for “Sanford and Son”, was originally composed by Jones in 1973, and entitled “The Streetbeater”. A danceable jazz funk composition heavily inspired by the scores of Blaxploitation soundtracks.

Show: “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”
Will Smith had some hip-hop classics under his belt; “Summertime”, “Parent’s Just Don’t Understand”, etc. The list goes on, but it has to include “The Fresh Prince”, the theme song from the Quincy Jones produced-sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” More than your typical TV theme song, “The Fresh Prince” was an absolute jam that had people doing the wop while rapping along. The song was such a hit for Smith, he included the full length version on his Greatest Hits album.

Show: “Good Times”
Probably the hardest lyrics to ever decipher in a television theme song, the “Good Times” theme, a gospel-inspired song composed by Dave Grusin was so catchy, it was practically some people’s favorite song. But we’re still trying to figure out the words…someone tell us, is it “hanging in a chow line” or “hanging in and jiving”?

Show: “Moesha”
To “Moesha”s credit, the theme song sounded exactly like something Brandy, who played the show’s title character, would feature on her album. “Mo-to-the-E-to-the…”you know the rest.

Show: “Sister, Sister”
The theme song to “Sister Sister” was one of those songs that got stuck in a person’s head from the opening note. “SISTER, SISTER!” may have been the only words people knew by heart, but anyone who sang them knew exactly how to sing those two words with the same emotion displayed on the show.

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Black Television Shows

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Related: 25 Reasons We Love Blaxploitation Films
Related: Top 9 Music Videos of the 1980s!

While a movie about one of America’s most notorious ghettos, directed by a young, first-time, African-American filmmaker named John Singleton, and starring a very popular rapper named Ice Cube alongside a handful of fairly unknown African-American actors, doesn’t quite seem like the recipe for blockbuster success, “Boyz N The Hood” would prove the skeptics wrong. Nearly 20 years after its release, it is now considered a classic film by any and all measures.

1. For the classic phrase, “All you do is eat, sleep, and sh*t”

2. The Liquor Store conspiracy theory.

3. The barbecue at Doughboy and Ricki’s house.

4. The game of dominoes gets it’s moment in the spotlight

5. The cops, especially the black ones.

6. Brandi goes to Spelman

7. Angela Bassett’s brief but powerful role as Tre’s mother, Reva.

8. Furious giving his son Tre a homemade haircut

9. The made-up story Tre tells Furious about having sex.

10. One word: Gentrification. How many people learned what that was from “Boyz N The Hood”?

11. Furious telling Tre and his friends the SAT is culturally bias years before it was a national issue.

Why We Love “Boyz N The Hood”

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Related: 25 Reasons We Love Blaxploitation Films!

Related: Top 9 Music Videos of the 1980s!