The pop star took the biggest stage in TV, leading an army of women dressed as Black Panthers who at one point formed an X on the field, which seemed like (and most likely was) an overt tribute to Malcolm X. It might've been easy to miss the statement amid all the booty shaking, but days later, cries of "Boycott Beyoncé" made it clear she'd had an impact.
[...] we saw the broadest, most varied, provocative portrayals of African-American life on TV ever; with many of them proving to be success stories that illuminated that black narratives and universal appeal aren't mutually exclusive.
[...] while stories from all cultures are important, this season's spate of content focused on African-Americans -- historically shut out of powerful and lucrative engines like TV -- helped push forward the promise of a more inclusive industry.
Orange Is the New Black, UnReal and black-ish all confronted killings of African-Americans by police with widely talked-about storylines: the heartbreaking death of Poussey (Samira Wiley) on OITNB, which paralleled Eric Garner's real-life choking in New York City; the shooting of an innocent black man by police on UnReal sparked conversation about institutional bias, based on the way the story pivoted to a white heroine; and black-ish's lauded episode "Hope" invited America to eavesdrop on a family wrestling with fear, confusion and perplexing questions following a case of police brutality.
The women of HBO's Insecure were a little more grown up but also grappling with universal issues: hero Issa (Issa Rae) was a ball of confusion and shaky decision-making, while the corporate Molly (Yvonne Orji) illustrated what it looked like to be a winner in the office and a mess everywhere else.
Power continued to complicate the life of its anti-hero drug dealer James St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) -- a cunning, murdering, savvy businessman who is also a sensitive father seeking redemption.
In Netflix
