“Minding your business is a full time job” says the majority of the black community on a day-to-day basis in this show, but not Diarra Kilpatrick, star and creator of BET’s newest series, Diarra From Detroit. 

The series was shown at Howard University on April 3 and was followed by a panel discussion with the cast and crew of the series. The dramedy follows a Detroit schoolteacher who attempts to move on after a messy divorce only for her rebound to ghost her. Believing that there is more to the story than just a sudden lack of interest, Diarra decides to investigate the man’s disappearance for herself, much to the dismay of those around her. The series has already generated some positive buzz for a number of reasons. Many enjoy the seamless blending of genres as its intense mystery is balanced out by its comedy, as well as its original concept. The story features a narrative where black women are represented in a positive light, and the black cast of characters all have the opportunity to be multi-faceted, a concept that is not typically seen in media today.

“To be honest, this has been the easiest process in terms of a yes, and I think that’s a little bit because of where I’m at,” says Howard alum and BET Studios Executive Vice President Aisha Summers Burke, who can be credited with helping the series make it to the air. Burke shares that through her journey in the media, there has been a general lack of women, specifically black women, in power positions. This observation manifested into a desire to help create stories that featured people who looked and acted like her, and hopefully inspire people to fill up more of these spaces in the entertainment industry. 

“It was less about seeing people in my specific position because I didn’t really see that as I was moving forward or moving up, but it was about looking at people who were successful on screen or who were producers or creators and wanting to be part of that world, and realizing as an assistant and moving up that I really wanted to be in that studio network system to make sure those stories that were coming in and not getting the ‘yes’ were getting the ‘yes’.” 

Luckily, she was presented with the opportunity to give the greenlight to just the type of story she was looking for as her first official project at BET studios, and she wasn’t the only one who found the series hard to pass up. 

Kenya Barris, acclaimed writer, producer, director, and actor also shares that Kilpatrick approached him with the story. When explaining why he just had to get involved with the show, he says, ““We keep seeing the same kind of stories over and over again, and when we do get these kinds of stories, they often aren’t shared well.” Accurate representation of black people in media resonated heavily with Barris and the rest of the panel as they expressed disdain towards being pigeonholed into a trope or stereotype because that’s all that the world thought of them. This series allowed them all to work on a project that showed that black people, like the rest of humanity, have the ability to achieve great things and be their own person outside of overused stereotypes.

The on-screen actors expressed similar thoughts when reminiscing on their involvement with the series. Dominque Perry, the actress who portrays Aja, Diarra’s more down to Earth best friend, says, “When I saw the role, I said ‘oh I can see myself’, and I haven’t actually played a role like this.” She goes on to express how each character felt so relatable because Kilpatrick’s writing allowed the characters to be multifaceted. They were allowed to break out of the stereotypes typically seen in black media while also making fun of some of these notions. For example, Danger, Diarra’s childhood friend who attempts to rob her house, is characterized as being extremely wise and an advocate for therapy. Each member of the panel shared how they were searching for a piece of media where they could accurately see themselves in, and Kilpatrick’s unique storytelling and writing provided just what they sought after.

“To see a group of beautiful black women in Detroit, underground, is really unheard of,” says Perry. Unfortunately, many forms of mainstream media do not depict black people in the same manner that Diarra From Detroit does. The violence of their environment is heightened to an extreme level, the characters themselves are flat and one-dimensional, and black women fall victim to the actions of others in these stories. Kilpatrick recognized this inherent need for better representation within the media which led her to write the show, and members of the panel spoke on their experiences with seeking after representation as well. Perry also says, “I just want people to see themselves in these characters and show Detroit in a different light.”

“Even being at Howard and just having our icons who were behind the camera and in front of the camera was kind of the bridge for me to figure out how to even start my journey to becoming studio executive even though I didn’t see women, specifically black women, in those ranks,” says Burke. She explains how her journey to success still lacked a ton of black women to look up to on the corporate sphere, but when she turned to the media, there was a lack of accurate representation. She calls upon acting icons such as Phylicia Rashad as being some of the people she looked towards, but there was still an overwhelming amount of representation missing. With this series, there is the potential for this narrative to change, but there is still one crucial element they will need for things to truly take off.

“I think the only way for this to progress in the future is if people actually watch the show,” says Burke. Kilpatrick and BET Studios did their part in creating the series, but not much will grow from the experience if the viewers are low. Burke says, “I really do hope people watch the show because I want to do 10 other Diarra from Detroit that each feel different and unique and fresh, but this is the first step in making that happen.” Therefore, if people want to continue seeing strong black women lead shows without subjecting themselves to stereotypes or becoming victims, they must show their support for Diarra from Detroit which is now streaming on BET+.