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Chaos Reigns

Five chaotic Black queer TV leads to watch

Sabrina Wigfall

Happy Black History Month! 

A month is not enough to represent the Black community and our indisputable bravery, dedication, and excellence. Thank you to every Black leader who has advocated for Black people and our rights, such as Ida B. Wells, Malcolm X, Marsha P. Johnson, and Bayard Rustin. 

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Let’s keep up the momentum of expression and representation with these five shows starring chaotic Black queer leads. 

How To Get Away With Murder (2014)

Shonda Rhimes’ six-season messy murder law show stars Viola Davis as Annalise Keating, a complicated, intelligent and charismatic criminal defense attorney who recruits a team of law students to help with her cases. Keating is openly bisexual, having had a few relationships with men and two relationships with women: her exes Tegan Price (Amirah Vann) and Eve Rothlo (Famke Janssen).

P-Valley (2020)

This hit show stars a team of adult dancers in a club called ‘The Pynk,’ owned by queer nonbinary lead Uncle Clifford, played by Nicco Annan. Uncle Clifford has a slow-burn relationship with a closeted Rapper named Lil’ Murda (J. Alphonse Nicholson). The two become closer as chaos ensues in the club and their relationship.

Black Lightning (2018)

Television’s first Black nesbian superhero is 100% worth mentioning! Black Lightning stars Cress Williams, China Anne McClain, and Nafessa Williams, who portrays Anissa Pierce, aka Thunder. Anissa is in a sapphic relationship with Grace Choi, portrayed by Chantal Thuy.

Rap Sh!t (2022)

If you love Issa Rae’s exceptional work, this is the show for you! It’s about two friends named Mia (KaMillion) and Shawna (Aida Osman) who start a female rap girl group loosely based on the IRL duo City Girls. The two allow their friend, Chasity (Jonica Booth), a lesbian party promoter, to manage their group. The series showcases the highs and lows of the music industry as women.

The Bold Type (2017)

This Freeform hit is about three best friends living in New York and working for Scarlet magazine, a fictional amalgam of glossies like Teen Vogue and Vanity Fair. One of the main leads, Kat Edison, played by Aisha Dee, is the head of Scarlet’s social media department and often finds herself in troublesome situations in the work and love department. She’s notably linked with fan-favorite muslim lesbian Adena El-Amin, played by Nikohl Boosheri. If you love messy sapphic romances, this is your time to shine! There are also plenty of other queer characters, such as Oliver Grayson (Stephen Conrad Moore), a gay Black fashion director, and Tia Clayton (Alexis Floyd), a Black lesbian campaign manager. 

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There’s no limit to how much representation is necessary, but it can be discouraging when many of our stories in the media consist of trauma alone. Black queer people deserve representation that’s light-hearted, fun, and messy.

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