Latest news with #Blackrepresentation
The Independent
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Gen Xers mourn drowning death of The Cosby Show's Theo actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner
For Black youth and teens growing up in the mid-1980s, 'The Cosby Show' offered something rarely seen on television up until that time — a sitcom that placed characters who looked like them in a positive light. And Malcolm-Jamal Warner's 'Theo Huxtable' was the character Generation X most related to. Fans took quickly to social media on Monday as news of Warner's accidental drowning in Costa Rica spread. 'It's like losing one of us,' said Harriet Cammock, a 58-year-old Detroit author and speaker. 'This is the thing with television. When you're watching people every week on television, you think you know them and you're related to them.' Warner was swimming Sunday afternoon at Playa Cocles in Costa Rica's Limon province when a current pulled him deeper into the Caribbean, according to that country's Judicial Investigation Department. First responders found him without vital signs. 'The Cosby Show' was groundbreaking and a ratings giant, drawing in viewers across racial, cultural and economic backgrounds. The show ran for 197 episodes from 1984 to 1992. In 1986, Warner earned an Emmy nomination for supporting actor in a comedy. The show starring Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable and Phylicia Rashad as his wife Clair and "made the wider society aware that there are Black people who live like white people do,' said Cammock, who is Black. 'The perception that we don't live like they do was hurtful.' Lynn Reasonover, 62, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, began receiving messages Monday afternoon about Warner's death. Her initial thoughts were 'Nope, didn't happen.' 'Then, I kept seeing the news flashes and friends started sending texts,' Reasonover said. 'So, it's sinking in. Makes you realize how much some celebrities help shape our memories. His work had such a huge impact. I'm feeling a personal loss because we grew up with him. It's like losing a part of our childhood.' Reasonover saw much of her family in the Huxtables where both parents were professionals who valued education and handled family issues with understanding and love. 'They had similar problems to what we experienced growing up,' she said. 'We could relate and that's why we laughed.' Rasheda Williams, 46, of Detroit was about the same age as Rudy, the youngest character on 'The Cosby Show' and Theo's little sister. Williams said she and others are mourning Warner's passing because of what they saw in the character he played. 'He's like the ideal cousin you wish you had,' Williams said. 'Hearing the news has really affected some of us. It was unexpected. He wasn't sick. That makes it even more tragic.' 'He wasn't just an actor,' she said. 'He was also an activist, a positive role model, not just for young Black men, but for young Black women as well.'
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Gen Xers mourn drowning death of The Cosby Show's Theo actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner
DETROIT (AP) — For Black youth and teens growing up in the mid-1980s, 'The Cosby Show' offered something rarely seen on television up until that time — a sitcom that placed characters who looked like them in a positive light. And Malcolm-Jamal Warner's 'Theo Huxtable' was the character Generation X most related to. Fans took quickly to social media on Monday as news of Warner's accidental drowning in Costa Rica spread. 'It's like losing one of us,' said Harriet Cammock, a 58-year-old Detroit author and speaker. 'This is the thing with television. When you're watching people every week on television, you think you know them and you're related to them.' Warner was swimming Sunday afternoon at Playa Cocles in Costa Rica's Limon province when a current pulled him deeper into the Caribbean, according to that country's Judicial Investigation Department. First responders found him without vital signs. 'The Cosby Show' was groundbreaking and a ratings giant, drawing in viewers across racial, cultural and economic backgrounds. The show ran for 197 episodes from 1984 to 1992. In 1986, Warner earned an Emmy nomination for supporting actor in a comedy. The show starring Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable and Phylicia Rashad as his wife Clair and 'made the wider society aware that there are Black people who live like white people do,' said Cammock, who is Black. 'The perception that we don't live like they do was hurtful.' Lynn Reasonover, 62, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, began receiving messages Monday afternoon about Warner's death. Her initial thoughts were 'Nope, didn't happen.' 'Then, I kept seeing the news flashes and friends started sending texts,' Reasonover said. 'So, it's sinking in. Makes you realize how much some celebrities help shape our memories. His work had such a huge impact. I'm feeling a personal loss because we grew up with him. It's like losing a part of our childhood.' Reasonover saw much of her family in the Huxtables where both parents were professionals who valued education and handled family issues with understanding and love. 'They had similar problems to what we experienced growing up,' she said. 'We could relate and that's why we laughed.' Rasheda Williams, 46, of Detroit was about the same age as Rudy, the youngest character on 'The Cosby Show' and Theo's little sister. Williams said she and others are mourning Warner's passing because of what they saw in the character he played. 'He's like the ideal cousin you wish you had,' Williams said. 'Hearing the news has really affected some of us. It was unexpected. He wasn't sick. That makes it even more tragic.' 'He wasn't just an actor,' she said. 'He was also an activist, a positive role model, not just for young Black men, but for young Black women as well.'
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Al Arabiya
Gen xer's mourn drowning death of the cosby show's theo actor malcolm-jamal warner
For Black youth and teens growing up in the mid-1980s, 'The Cosby Show' offered something rarely seen on television up until that time–a sitcom that placed characters who looked like them in a positive light. And Malcolm-Jamal Warner's Theo Huxtable was the character Generation X most related to. Fans took quickly to social media on Monday as news of Warner's accidental drowning in Costa Rica spread. 'It's like losing one of us,' said Harriet Cammock, a 58-year-old Detroit author and speaker. 'This is the thing with television. When you're watching people every week on television, you think you know them and you're related to them.' Warner was swimming Sunday afternoon at Playa Cocles in Costa Rica's Limon province when a current pulled him deeper into the Caribbean, according to that country's Judicial Investigation Department. First responders found him without vital signs. 'The Cosby Show' was groundbreaking and a ratings giant, drawing in viewers across racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds. The show ran for 197 episodes from 1984 to 1992. In 1986, Warner earned an Emmy nomination for supporting actor in a comedy. The show, starring Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable and Phylicia Rashad as his wife Clair, made the wider society aware that there are Black people who live like white people do, said Cammock, who is Black. 'The perception that we don't live like they do was hurtful.' Lynn Reasonover, 62, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, began receiving messages Monday afternoon about Warner's death. Her initial thoughts were, 'Nope, didn't happen.' Then I kept seeing the news flashes and friends started sending texts, Reasonover said. 'So it's sinking in. Makes you realize how much some celebrities help shape our memories. His work had such a huge impact. I'm feeling a personal loss because we grew up with him. It's like losing a part of our childhood.' Reasonover saw much of her family in the Huxtables, where both parents were professionals who valued education and handled family issues with understanding and love. 'They had similar problems to what we experienced growing up,' she said. 'We could relate, and that's why we laughed.' Rasheda Williams, 46, of Detroit, was about the same age as Rudy, the youngest character on 'The Cosby Show' and Theo's little sister. Williams said she and others are mourning Warner's passing because of what they saw in the character he played. 'He's like the ideal cousin you wish you had,' Williams said. 'Hearing the news has really affected some of us. It was unexpected. He wasn't sick. That makes it even more tragic.' He wasn't just an actor, she said. 'He was also an activist, a positive role model not just for young Black men but for young Black women as well.'
Fox News
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Times Square touts new statue of 12-foot-tall Black woman as 'stark contrast' to statues of White men
New York City's Times Square installed a statue of a 12-foot-tall Black woman in casual clothing that its creator hopes will encourage people to reflect on "greater cultural diversity." New York-based Times Square Arts recently put up the new statue display, titled "Grounded in the Stars," by artist Thomas J Price, along with his "Man Series" animated billboards, both of which are temporary, but causing a stir online. The Times Square website states, "Price's multi-channel presentation on the screens and sculptural installation on the plaza below forms a two-part takeover in Times Square that foregrounds the intrinsic value of the individual and amplifies traditionally marginalized bodies on a monumental scale." "Times Square stands as an iconic symbol and site of convergence, uniting people from all walks of life, individual stories, and experiences intersecting on a global platform. The intention of my public works is to become part of the place they inhabit and its physical, material history, as well as the visitors that pass through and around the location, no matter how fleeting," Price said in a statement in the press release. "I hope Grounded in the Stars and Man Series will instigate meaningful connections and bind intimate emotional states that allow for deeper reflection around the human condition and greater cultural diversity." Price's official website notes that he has spent decades "tacitly dissecting both implicit and explicit expressions of anti-Blackness." For this particular sculpture, Price's website explained, "both her stature and her unbothered gaze are markers of status and authority; this is a figure who understands her worth." The Times Square website noted that the large Black woman statue is not one particular woman, but is made as a contrast to other sculptures, including "a subtle nod to Michelangelo's David" with its posture. The website also said that "the woman in Grounded in the Stars cuts a stark contrast to the pedestaled permanent monuments — both white, both men — which bookend Duffy Square, while embodying a quiet gravity and grandeur." The statues of historic White men in Times Square are of Father Francis P. Duffy, the most decorated chaplain in Army history who served in World War I and the Spanish-American War, and playwright George M. Cohan, who composed iconic American works such as "You're a Grand Old Flag" and is credited for laying the groundwork for Broadway as a center for the performing arts. American statues and holidays have become a frequent source of controversy, as progressives create new monuments while tearing down those of figures from the past. The "Grounded in the Stars" display, placed on April 29, will be removed in mid-June. The Times Square website noted that support for the Grounded in the Stars display is "provided in part by the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, Morgan Stanley, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and additional in-kind support from the Times Square Edition Hotel."
