Black Lightning...why you should still be watching!

Back in April, I wrote a post about why you should be watching season one of Black Lightning here. My thoughts haven't changed except, you should really, really be watching! The first couple of episodes set a new tone for the series. With the addition of Robert Townsend and Bill Duke and the inclusion of a "negro please" and a HNIC all within the first five minutes, clearly, the showrunners are comfortable in their blackness and I love it. The characters talk like real people. Real black people that I know and talk to everyday. It's so refreshing. It's also refreshing to see a character who is afraid of who they've become. 

The older daughter Anissa aka Thunder, brought the typical "I've got powers, YAY what can I do," flavor that we're used to. But Jennifer or Lightning, has abilities that frighten her. She doesn't want to practice, she doesn't want to know what she can do, she doesn't want to talk about it, because she's a teenager who's already morphing into an adult and now a powered being on top of that. She struggles with it and her fear is based in reality. Just as Starr in The Hate U Give, is confronted with traumatic events and shaken, so is Jennifer. I appreciate the writers allowing her character to take time and really come to grips with who she is becoming and what she can do. She's a young black woman who is vulnerable and powerful at the same time. Also refreshing. 
​
I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the season and ...OMG I almost forgot about the fight scene in the first minutes of the premier episode between the former vice principal aka undercover operative and Syonide. Maaaaaan, that fight was so good. I wasn't expecting it to open that way and the closing line, "you got my hair wet b*^*ch...the struggle is real!
​