But there were many, including actors on these shows, who believed that producers equated the black experience with poverty and that too often writers pushed negative stereotypes and tropes, especially after the progress in civil rights of the previous decade. Times also weren’t all that good for the Black creators of Good Times, Eric Monte and Mike Evans – both men struggled with Lear to receive recognition for their work.

Join us as I SEE U host Eddie Robinson chats with the actor who portrayed the first Black teen on network television – Bern Nadette Stanis, who starred as Thelma, the daughter of the Evans family in Good Times. Stanis shares her thoughts on the adult reboot and how she felt misled after portraying one of the characters in the modern series. Plus, Variety TV critic, Aramide Tinubu, provides her perspective on why Hollywood still refuses to let go of outdated and harmful depictions of American Black life.

Country music is often referred to as the quintessential American music – and yet the contributions and influences of Black Americans is often erased and ignored. A prime example: Members of the Carter family were among country music’s first big stars, producing some of the earliest commercial recordings in the 1920s. While the Carters are celebrated to this day, few know the name of Lesley Riddle, a Black musician who was instrumental in developing the Carter sound. Even the banjo – an instrument most associated with Appalachia where A.P. Carter and Lesley Riddle researched folk music – has had its African roots neglected over time. The rich cultural legacy of this American genre is only recently getting reexamined as African Americans and other communities of color are telling their own stories and histories of contribution to the origins of country music. 

As Houston’s own Beyoncé drops her most recent album, “Cowboy Carter”, some are saying that an artist mostly linked to R&B and hip-hop has no business on the country charts or airwaves. But the owners of a new music enterprise in Houston would respectfully disagree as they live the country life right here in Space City.

Join us as I SEE U’s Eddie Robinson chats with the founders of LaChachere Music Group (LMG), a premiere country music entertainment company based in Houston and Nashville. Owners Dennis Chachere and Ahsaki LaFrance-Chachere stop by our Third Ward studios — just blocks away from Queen Bey’s childhood home. We’ll dive deep into why there remains tension in country music spaces when Black artists desire the spotlight — a notion Beyoncé modestly referred to in a recent Instagram post. Plus, LMG artist, singer-songwriter Caleb James, breaks out his guitar and offers up powerful vocals reminiscent of Charley Pride in an exclusive, live in-studio performance of his latest single, “Just a Few Things.” 

Country star Reyna Roberts was born two months prematurely, at just two pounds. Her doctors feared developmental issues; so, her mother – a student at the University of Alaska – teamed up with professors to develop a unique music therapy to aid in her cognitive growth. The therapy not only worked, but it also gave Roberts a deep-seated passion for music. While she is a classically trained pianist and vocalist, her love of music led her to explore all genres before she found her groove in writing and singing country music. And this 26-year-old has been a fighter since birth, with her bold flair and genre-busting sound exemplified on her debut album, “Bad Girl Bible, Vol. 1.”

As Houston’s own, Beyoncé releases “Cowboy Carter” – I SEE U is taking a moment to explore the stories and lives of Black country musicians. Join us for this special bonus podcast as Eddie Robinson chats unguarded with the multi-talented country singer-songwriter, Reyna Roberts. We’ll gain insight into how she’s navigated race and gender inside a challenging music industry as an up-and-coming Black female country artist. Roberts also responds to the criticism female musicians often receive when embracing and displaying a very risqué image.

In many ways, Texas is representative of the demographic and economic dynamism of America. The Lone Star State is very diverse with Latinos as the largest ethnic group; plus, it boasts the largest African American population in the country. Despite the sweeping demographic change of the last few decades, Texas remains deeply conservative with only one Black and one Latino among statewide elected officials – pushing political observers to begin questioning why Texas politics have remained unchanged. The economic boom of the last decade, dubbed the Texas Miracle, has also skipped over Black and Brown families who are themselves helping to drive this growth and expansion. This is especially true for historic Black communities in one of the wealthiest parts of the world – Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast.

Join us as I SEE U’s Eddie Robinson speaks unguarded with award-winning filmmaker, Alex Stapleton. Her documentary, “The Price of Oil,” is part of HBO’s ‘God Save Texas,’ a three-part docuseries now streaming on Max. The renowned director turns a critical eye on the lucrative oil and gas industry – and documents how these companies created a toxic hell for her family and their Houston-area community – destroying the hard-won oasis where Black families could finally own their homes and build wealth. When outsiders would merely suggest to these Texas residents that they should simply move – Stapleton turns the table to question why business leaders and government officials failed from the start to fully compensate generations of Black and Brown communities through adequate health resources and regulation of an industry run amok.

Media depictions of Black men historically have been centered around not so flattering stereotypes: unintelligent, lazy, prone to violence, hypersexual — and worst of all, criminal and dangerous. When he’s out in public, acclaimed actor Eric Kofi Abrefa tells I SEE U he has to be make himself small and always be conscious of not appearing too aggressive. He’s garnered a growing fanbase because of his breakout role as the villain in the STARZ hit crime-drama series, BMF (Black Mafia Family). He explains that a white actor is given the opportunity to portray any — and every kind of role and the audience ‘won’t bat an eye’ or think twice about that depiction. But when a Black actor walks on stage, without uttering a word or reciting a line of script, he is a “walking political statement.” Does this mindset unknowingly restrict audiences’ thinking of what Black actors can achieve or accomplish?  

Join us as host Eddie Robinson chats with the man BMF fans “love to hate:” British/Ghanaian actor, Eric Kofi Abrefa. Star of the biblical comedy epic, The Book of Clarence, Kofi Abrefa shares why he is proud of his Ghanaian ancestry and why he is the biggest promotor of Ghana’s film industry. The London-based actor also reveals details of an upcoming sci-fi Netflix series that will feature an all-Black cast with superhero powers. 

Are concepts of race and racism so embedded in our culture, that kids as young as 3 have a racial identity? How do environment and family dynamics impact a child’s perceived sense of self? These were just some of the questions a husband-and-wife team of psychologists asked during their groundbreaking investigation of the racial formation of young Black children. During the 1940s, Kenneth and Mamie Clark recorded the negative impacts of segregation through a series of studies and experiments which came to be known as the “Doll Tests.” A student would choose between a Black doll and a White one when asked a series of questions, like “Which doll is the good doll?” or “which doll is the pretty doll?” Most Black children chose White dolls, and to the dismay of the Clarks, some students were upset and felt devastated after having to identify with the doll they had previously labeled as bad or ugly.  

I SEE U host Eddie Robinson candidly chats with acclaimed author, Tim Spofford, about his latest book, What the Children Told Us: The Untold Story of the Famous “Doll Test” and the Black Psychologists Who Changed the World. Spofford, who grew up in an all-white mill town in upstate New York, shares his thoughts on why he felt the need to tell the full story of this pioneering couple – whose research, scholarship and activism played a critical role in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, which declared the infamous “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional. He also offers up insight on how today’s generation of children would perform if given the same doll tests from back in the day.