Shows Like ‘Abbott Elementary’ and Classics Like ‘A Different World’ Reflect How Black Culture Teaches Across Generations
Black popular culture functions as an intergenerational curriculum that preserves history, identity, and emotional knowledge through film, music, poetry, nostalgia, and digital references, allowing younger generations to inherit cultural memory outside traditional educational institutions. This is imperative at a time when Black history is being attacked and taken out of the textbooks.
The success of Sinners was no accident. The success of Cowboy Carter was no accident. The attention these projects as well as many others are examples of long overlooked chapters within the intergenerational curriculum. There are more platforms to create, promote, and view media than have ever before. There are more avenues of Black representation that are waiting to be rediscovered.
From ‘A Different World’ to ‘Abbott Elementary’
Think Abbott Elementary, the hit ABC television sitcom that will be entering its sixth season. Created by viral internet comedian Quinta Brunson, who also serves in the lead role, this mockumentary takes viewers into the inner dialogue of the students and faculty and staff of the fictional Willard R. Abbott Elementary School in Philadelphia. Brunson has been very vocal about her intention for creating Black representation from the multidimensional lens. In a 2025 interview on the podcast, “Good Hang with Amy Poehler”, Brunson said, “I think it’s important for us to have characters who are more realistic than they are the absolute best representation of us…I think it creates layers for us not only on TV but in the public eye”.
Black Representation Beyond Textbooks
What does it mean when education about the Black experience is no longer allowed in the classroom and is being shown on media platforms? What are the pros and cons of this? And what will be the future ramifications of this? Certainly, this isn’t the first iteration of this. There are various photos of stills from 90s sitcoms Living Single and The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air that shows the main characters in attire that promotes historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) such as Spellman, Morehouse, and Clark Atlanta.
Fellow 90’s sitcom A Different World, originally conceived as a spinoff of 80’s sitcom The Cosby Show, brought HBCU culture to the mainstream unlike before. Depictions of Black educators, Black academic discussions, and the Black experience have long been part of the cultural zeitgeist that became the backdrop of future generations.
The Future of Cultural Memory
Now in the 2020s, with many Black images coming under scrutiny, this begs the question of what will the intergenerational curriculum become?
