Issa Rae explores history of Black representation in TV in documentary: “It makes such a difference”

Award-winning actor producer and writer Issa Rae is opening up about what inspired her new documentary, “Seen and Heard: The History of Black Television.” She’s executive producer of the two-part series that explores the history of Black representation on TV and how Black artists and creators revolutionized the industry while confronting major challenges.

The series, which Rae and her collaborators started creating in 2019, features media icons such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Tracee Ellis Ross, Norman Lear and Shonda Rhimes.

“What inspired me to even get my start was just seeing the people that I love, the people that I know, the people that raised me on TV, and that representation was so essential for me to recognize that I could do it,” Rae told “CBS Mornings” Tuesday about her inspiration growing up in the 90s.

In the early 2000s, Rae said there was a “disappearance all of the sudden” of Black characters and shows on TV, but they reemerged about a decade later.

In the 2010s, “there were just so many new shows, new shows of color,” she said. But now, Rae said TV and media is once again in an era where Black characters and shows have disappeared.

“I think the advent of cable made a huge difference where, you know, now these networks had to try to capture the broadest audience possible because they were losing audiences to different niche cable networks and so they were like, ‘how can we maximize the audience we have?’ and they have a tendency to go broad then, and broad sometimes just means White, the most eyeballs that you can get,” she said.

Even though shows like “Family Matters” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” were universal and watched by a broad audience, there is sometimes a feeling that Black shows may exclude an audience, she said.

The documentary also explores the importance of representation behind the camera.

“It makes such a difference when you’re thinking about something as small as set design. I’ve seen that just even on my own productions and watching movies. Sometimes you’ll watch a movie and you’ll see a Black character’s bedroom, and you’ll be like ‘they would never, what? They would never have that.'”

The details in a show could also apply to how a character dresses or their hair.

“I don’t want to be taken out of a story. If I’m immersed, like those small details really, really matter, and there’s just — also there’s a different level of honestly, pride that goes in, in creating something that you know you’re a part of and you understand on a different level,” Rae said.

She said the changing media industry is challenging, “but it’s another time that I’m confident we’ll get through. There’s so many opportunities in the digital era and that’s where I came from. I find hope in knowing that I can create. If I want to tell a story I’m going to tell a story regardless.”

The HBO documentary film “Seen and Heard: The History of Black Television” debuts Sept. 9 on HBO and HBO Max.