This 12th day of Black History Month, I’m shining the spotlight on What’s Happening!! and What’s Happening Now!! — two series that did something absolutely radical: They let Black people be funny, awkward, ambitious, stubborn, tender, and regular… on national television. No constant trauma soundtrack. No “very special episode” energy every week. No forced message wrapped in shame. Just life. And when Black folks are allowed to be fully human on screen, that is history too.

I’m shining a spotlight on Cooley High (1975)—a groundbreaking coming-of-age film that not only captured the realities of Black teenage life