Photo source: Instagram
I saw this clip recently of Star Wars actor John Boyega on the “Live with Kelly & Ryan” show, a clip that was recorded last year. In the daytime talk show interview Kelly Ripa and her guest co-host for the day Andy Cohen from TV’s “Love Connection” asked John if he was single and he replied yes and the audience responds with applause and ooh’s.
We love us some single and available male celebs in our culture. Heyyyyyy John Boyega! lol
Then Kelly suggested that Andy hook John up with someone like he does on his “Love Connection” show. To that Andy asked John what his type is, and John replied:
“You know a good gorgeous Black woman would be amazing for me.”
You know what I heard after that? Nothing from the audience. Not. A. Sounnnnnnd. Like did y’all hear him or nah? Or were audience members not sure if they were supposed to clap? Or cheer? Or something?
Let’s watch again for context:
Seriously, out of sheer melanated excitement I would have been loud about that, with some Cardi B “Eeeeooooowww!” sound and would have been by myself in that audience.
This Black man just 1) called Black women gorgeous on Live national TV, 2) made sure he put Black woman as his type, and 3) said it would be amazing for him.
What does the crowd respond with? Nothing. One can look at that in a few different ways. Perhaps it’s awkward to share your racial preferences on TV, or it may seem racially exclusive and therefore racist to some (which is extreme). But they did ask him his type and he answered; don’t be scared to clap now.
The hosts awkwardly stammered looking for the very few Black women in the audience to put the camera on, one of them was already engaged. John is not bothered by any of this, he knows who he is and what he wants, and according to this interview, his type is a Black woman, unapologetically. John Boyega has not shied away from talking about important topics around racism and representation of people of color in media/film. He faced backlash over him playing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens from racist trolls and his response was perfection:
“I am grounded in who I am, and I am a confident Black man,” he said. “A confident, Nigerian, Black, chocolate man…To get into a serious dialogue with people who judge a person based on the melanin in their skin? They’re stupid, and I’m not going to lose sleep over people.” -John Boyega, Essence.com
I think his response in the TV interview was a touching moment for me in terms of Black Love because we often don’t see Black men in the spotlight praising the Black woman. We’re often on the back burner in terms of who these men choose to date.
Why that’s important to us common folk is because it is all about representation. We don’t have to turn an interview into a political debate, but Black Love or desiring to be with a Black person when you’re Black yourself shouldn’t be uncommon nor awkward to talk about. Black Love is not something to be silent about, it’s revolutionary, if that’s what you want, well choose the best person for you and live unapologetically Black and in love.
You can catch John Boyega in Pacific Rim Uprising now in theaters.
