Let’s Celebrate Black Nostalgia!
In a time filled with uncertainty, let’s reminisce about our favorite moments in Black culture history.
Like many young adults, I made the decision to move back home during the pandemic. I was used to being a young millennial living in my city apartment and working in the Big Apple. Within hours I traded in that life to be back in my childhood bedroom in a town I had dreaded to come back too. Of course the situation was not ideal but it was comforting to be back in a place with so many memories during a time when we had no idea when things would return to any sense of normalcy.
Being back home, I couldn’t help but to feel nostalgic and think of the fonder memories from my childhood. I cam across my High School Musical and Usher’s Confessions CD and teddy bears that put a smile on my face.
According to Valentina Stoycheva, a clinical psychologist specializing in traumatic stress, it’s a natural instinct to feel nostalgic and rely on those feelings for comfort and a sense of normalcy in times of trauma and overwhelming stress.
What also helped during this time was streamers like Disney+ and Netflix adding 90s and 2000s content to the platform that was watched by a large Black Audience. In the summer, Netflix added Sister, Sister; Moesha; and Girlfriends to their show roster with The Parkers and One on One following shortly after. Disney+ giving us Cinderella starring Brandy and Whitney Houston was just the icing on the cake.
These shows reminded of a time when we saw so much Black content on TV and content that put a smile on our face. It wasn’t trauma stories being pushed on us and since I was younger when these shows came out it gave me a sense of enjoying my childhood and not having to worry about things like being unemployed. For TV execs, we don’t need to reboot this content. It has made its impact on Black Culture and we don’t need any additions or changes. Let us just be nostalgic with the original cast and story lines.
One of the highlights during this pandemic of course is Verzuz, the IG live concert with our favorites singing their top hits. We got to see everyone from Patti LaBelle vs. Gladys Knight to Snoop Dogg vs. DMX (RIP).
With so much uncertainty and constant negativity in the news, find a piece of nostalgia that can help calm you down and make you feel more grounded. But also make sure it is bringing back healthy memories and don’t engage in things like calling your toxic ex!
For this episode, the So-Called Oreos discuss everything Black (and white?) nostalgia including favorite 90s and 2000s shows like the Proud Family, 106 and Park, Degrassi and discovering the Jonas Brothers on Disney. The hosts mention Netflix’s initiative of bringing Black classics to the streamer and realizing some parts of Moesha might have been problematic. The conversation continues with Limited Too, iPods, hotmail, Chad Michael Murray and having white boy crushes.
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